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Morley, Iowa

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Rome Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52312. It stands on North Fork Walnut Creek. The Survey maps it on the Morley quadrangle. 96 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 797 feet above sea level.

Morley within Jones County

Population over time

2 figures

Morley fell from 115 to 96 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.

YearPeople Change
2010115
202096-19 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

15 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Morley between 2006 and 2019, burning about 89 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
Debris and open burning9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
16 July 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2018Debris and open burning4.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 April 2018Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 April 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 April 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 April 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 April 2019Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jones County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Morley: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Knapp Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Jones County

Storms near this place

13 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Morley in 13 storm reports between 2001 and 2022: 6 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 flood, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2004Thunderstorm WindMorley$8,000A downburst leveled an outbuilding and damaged two grain bins.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMorley$2,000Tree limbs down and windows damaged
August 2022Thunderstorm WindMorley-The Morely Fire Chief estimated a peak wind speed of 65 MPH. .
August 2021Thunderstorm WindMorley-Tree limbed blown down along a house.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindMorley-Corn damaged, and several trees blown down.
May 2020Tornado (EFU)Morley-A tornado developed southwest of Mechanicsville shortly before 1 pm, and tracked northeast through northern Cedar County. The tornado crossed into Jones County about 3 miles S of Morley before dissipating. The tornado was rated EF1 in Cedar County with maximum winds estimated around 95 mph. The tornado is designated as EF-U in Jones County as there was no observable damage. The tornado was on the ground for about 16 minutes along an intermittent 7 mile path. Assistance with the survey was provided by Cedar County Emergency Management and the Mechanicsville Fire Department.
May 2018HailMorley-A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of quarters. The time was estimated by radar.
April 2017HailMorley-Broadcast media relayed a public report of 1.50 inch hail. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
June 2014Flash FloodMorley-The emergency manager reported the low lying town of Morley was evacuated.
July 2002FloodMorley-Walnut Creek overflowed its banks.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindMorley-60 mph wind gust estimated by trained storm spotter.
June 2015HailMorley-no account filed
May 2011HailMorley-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jones County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Newport3.6 miles15
Olin5.6 miles12
Martelle6.1 miles14
Fairview6.7 miles14
Anamosa7.3 miles14
Amber9.1 miles15
Stone City9.2 miles14
Hale9.9 miles15

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 MorleyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1927397The 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 459231. 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.