Menlo, Iowa
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Beaver Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50164. The Survey maps it on the Menlo quadrangle. 345 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,260 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMenlo fell from 353 to 345 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 | 353 | |
| 2020 | 345 | -8 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 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.
- 1952 USGS Panora quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1982 USGS Menlo quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Guthrie Center quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Guthrie Center quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
32 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Menlo between 2006 and 2020, burning about 290 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 | 16 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 June 2017 | Smoking | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 May 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 May 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 May 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 May 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 3180 OLEANDER TRAIL, IA |
| 10 May 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 300TH STREET AND RANCH TRAIL, IA |
| 7 April 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
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 Menlo: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Menlo Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
23 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Menlo in 23 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 14 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 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 2007 | Flood | Menlo | $500,000 | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | $20,000 | Emergency Manager reported power lines down in Menlo. Large hail at the time as well. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | $15,000 | Emergency Manager reported trees down in town. Time estimated from radar. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Menlo | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | $10,000 | Citywide tree damage reported in the towns of Menlo, Stuart, and Casey. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | $10,000 | Four foot diameter tree down in town. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | $10,000 | Power lines blown down in Menlo, power was out on the west side of town. |
| July 1999 | Hail | Menlo | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Menlo | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Menlo | $4,000 | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Menlo | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Menlo | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | $2,000 | Trained spotter reported 6 to 8 inch diameter tree branches down, including estimated 70 mph winds. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Menlo | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Menlo | $1,000 | no account filed |
| September 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | - | Emergency manager relayed law enforcement reports of 4 to 6 inch diameter tree limbs down in Menlo. Time estimated from radar. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menlo | - | Emergency manager reported branches down of at least 2 inches in diameter and a few up to 4 inches in diameter. |
| September 2018 | Hail | Menlo | - | Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail and winds estimated up to 60 mph. |
| May 2017 | Hail | Menlo | - | Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail. |
| November 2015 | Hail | Menlo | - | Emergency Manager reported nickel sized hail. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Menlo | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Menlo | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Menlo | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stuart | 4.7 miles | 11 | |
| Glendon | 5.2 miles | 11 | |
| Casey | 6.2 miles | 9 | |
| Dale | 6.2 miles | 11 | |
| Morrisburgh (historical) | 7.2 miles | 11 | |
| Monteith | 7.8 miles | 11 | |
| Diamondhead Lake | 7.9 miles | 11 | |
| Guthrie Center | 12.1 miles | 9 |
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 Menlo | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1928267 | 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 458983. 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.






