May City, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Harrison Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51354. It stands on Dry Run. The Survey maps it on the May City quadrangle. It stands 1,427 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 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 Fairmont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS May City quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Iowa Great Lakes quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of May City in 2010, burning about 15 acres 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | VINE AND 180TH ST., IOWA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of May City: 9 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May City Oil | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| May City Oil | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Thomas 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 | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Van Derveen | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
29 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names May City in 29 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 17 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | $500,000 | Numerous thunderstorms developed in the strong, moist southerly flow ahead of an approaching cold front. Many of them produced pea to marble-size hail and gusty winds of 40 to 50 MPH. One of the cells became severe and produced winds strong enough to take down power lines and one utility pole east of Akron. During the late evening hours, the thunderstorms weakened and collapsed. As the tops collapsed, high winds affected Osceola County. Trees were toppled and power lines downed. Several out buildings were toppled as well. A machine shed, on a farmstead west of May City, was picked up and hurled 100 feet from its foundation. The building was destroyed. Some minor damage was also done to the farmhouse as well. Trees and power lines were also downed on a farmstead east of Ocheyedan. A machine shed was also destroyed by high winds there. |
| June 2001 | Hail | May City | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds damaged the roof of a machine shed and caused tree damage. Some trees were blown down on houses and across roads. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | $500 | Tree limbs two to four inches in diameter were snapped. Property damage costs are rough estimates. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| April 2026 | Hail | May City | - | Pictures provided of quarter size hail. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by a personal weather station. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | Winds were measured by a personal weather station. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | The roof of an outbuilding was tossed approximately 200 yards by thunderstorm winds. | A large walnut tree was also snapped off. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | Numerous 4 to 10 inch diameter tree branches with downed by straight line winds. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | Wind gust to 60 mph measured by hand-held anemometer. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | Tree limbs to 6 inches diameter snapped. |
| May 2018 | Hail | May City | - | Considerable hail for a couple minutes with some up to dime size. |
| November 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | Thunderstorm winds blew shingles off a roof. The winds were accompanied by small hail. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including 3 inch diameter limbs blown down. |
| April 2026 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| April 2022 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | May City | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | May City | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | May 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.
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 May City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q18358268 | 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 458864. 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.



