Lake City, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Lake City City. It lies in ZIP code area 51449. The Survey maps it on the Lake City quadrangle. 1,731 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,240 feet above sea level.
On record in Lake City
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 9 records
Central Schoollisted 1985
Chicago and North Western Office Building/Passenger Depot-Lake Citylisted 1990
Lake City Community Memorial Buildinglisted 1990
Lake City Public Librarylisted 1990
Lake City Water Standpipelisted 1990
Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridgelisted 1989
Smith Farmhouselisted 1990
Gen. Cass and Belle Smith Houselisted 1990
Peter and Mary Smith Houselisted 1990
Population over time
2 figuresLake City grew from 1,727 to 1,731 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,727 | |
| 2020 | 1,731 | +4 (+0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Lake City quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Carroll quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Carroll quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
1 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Lake City in 2010, burning about 1 acre in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 March 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 1301 WEST MAIN STREET, IOWA |
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Lake City: 4 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Otto Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Packer Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
30 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake City in 30 storm reports between 1993 and 2023: 13 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2021 | Tornado (EF3) | Lake City | $2,500,000 | This was the first and strongest tornado of the day. It developed west southwest of Lake City and produced tree and power line damage. The tornado moved into and across the southern portion of Lake City. Imagery from UAV's and chasers show that the tornado was multi-vortex as it passed through the city. Up to EF2 damage occurred as it passed through town. As the tornado moved east of the town, it began to consolidate into a larger funnel and strengthen. It passed through a farmstead producing considerable damage to the farmhouse and out buildings with EF3 damage noted on the house. The tornado continued for a few more miles and impacted a confinement facility before lifting to the northwest of Lohrville. Fortunately, no injuries or deaths occurred with this tornado. |
| May 2015 | Tornado (EF1) | Lake City | $1,000,000 | Tornado moved from Carroll County into Calhoun County. It moved across the western side of Lake City, doing EF1 damage to houses and the high school. It remained in rural areas of Calhoun County for the remainder of it's path, broadening as it went along. The tornado lifted shortly before crossing Highway 20. |
| May 1998 | Hail | Lake City | $750,000 | Trees damaged by the hail |
| May 2015 | Hail | Lake City | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | $40,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Lake City | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | $15,000 | Law enforcement received a call from a trained spotter of 60 to 70 MPH wind gusts. Trees were down and the power was out in Lake City. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Lake City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Lake City | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Hail | Lake City | $2,000 | no account filed |
| October 1994 | Hail | Lake City | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Lake City | $1,000 | Hail along with extremely heavy rain. |
| April 2007 | Hail | Lake City | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Lake City | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Lake City | $1,000 | no account filed |
| February 1999 | Hail | Lake City | $500 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Lake City | $500 | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | - | Tree down and blocking Highway 175 in Lake City. |
| June 2019 | Heavy Rain | Lake City | - | Sheriff Deputy from Calhoun County measured 4.8 inches of heavy rainfall from his rain gauge. Location is estimated, but reported to be 3 miles south of Lake City along the North Raccoon River. Beginning time estimated. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Lake City | - | Calhoun County Sheriff reported water over the road at the junction of Highway 4 and Highway 175 east of Lake City. |
| August 2018 | Heavy Rain | Lake City | - | Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 4.22 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | - | Home weather station recorded 62 mph wind gust. |
| November 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake City | - | Trained spotter reported high winds around 60 mph. |
| August 2006 | Tornado (F0) | Lake City | - | Brief touchdown of landspout tornado. |
| May 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Lake City | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwood | 6.3 miles | 8 | |
| Yetter | 6.8 miles | 8 | |
| Wightman | 7.0 miles | 8 | |
| Rands | 9.1 miles | 8 | |
| Stimsons (historical) | 9.3 miles | 8 | |
| Lavinia | 9.7 miles | 8 | |
| Lohrville | 9.8 miles | 8 | |
| Rockwell City | 10.3 miles | 8 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Lake City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1928648 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 458181. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





