BlockMelvin, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Baker Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51350. The Survey maps it on the Melvin quadrangle. 199 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,581 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMelvin fell from 214 to 199 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 | 214 | |
| 2020 | 199 | -15 (-7%) |
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
- 1972 USGS Melvin quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Iowa Great Lakes quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Melvin: 2 past producers. None of them 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.
Storms near this place
20 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Melvin in 20 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 10 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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 | Melvin | $50,000 | 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. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Melvin | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a building. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Melvin | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches blown down. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Melvin | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including numerous limbs and branches blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Melvin | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage, resulting in a power outage. |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Melvin | - | Heavy rain caused flooding of several roads. |
| June 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Melvin | - | A brief tornado caused no reported damage or injuries. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| August 2014 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Melvin | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Melvin | - | 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 Melvin | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1928183 | 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 458961. 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.
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.