Northwood, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Grove Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50459. The Survey maps it on the Northwood quadrangle. 2,072 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,230 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Northwood
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 3 records
Northwood Central Avenue Historic Districtlisted 2006
Worth County Courthouselisted 1981- Old Worth County Courthouselisted 1981
Population over time
3 figuresNorthwood grew from 2,050 to 2,072 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2,050 | |
| 2010 | 1,989 | -61 (-3%) |
| 2020 | 2,072 | +83 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 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 Mason City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Mason City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Mason City quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Northwood quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Mason City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Northwood between 2006 and 2014, burning about 124 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 | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 4969 NIGHTINGALE NORTHWOOD, IA, IA |
| 12 May 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Northwood: 8 producers, 3 past producers, 2 unknowns. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanson | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Harris Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Kensett Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Kuennen Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Northwood Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Aase Pit and Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Knutson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Lucken Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
60 of 63 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Northwood in 63 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 24 hail, 20 thunderstorm wind, 10 heavy rain, 5 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 2006 | Hail | Northwood | 2 hurt | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Flash Flood | Northwood | $200,000 | Worth County Sheriff's office reported road closures at Ulmus Road between 420th and 400th Rd. Water was flowing over the road from a culvert and 430th between Zinnia Rd west to Yarrow Rd is closed. |
| June 1998 | Flood | Northwood | $75,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Hail | Northwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 1994 | Hail | Northwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $30,000 | Iowa DOT reported Highway 65 blocked in both directions due to downed power lines. Time radar estimated. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $25,000 | County dispatch reported a transformer blown, power lines and power poles down, and tree damage. This is a delayed report and time estimated from radar. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $25,000 | Numerous trees down on power lines. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Northwood | $25,000 | Street flooding was reported in the area. |
| September 2001 | Hail | Northwood | $20,000 | no account filed |
| October 2006 | Hail | Northwood | $15,000 | no account filed |
| October 2006 | Hail | Northwood | $15,000 | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Flash Flood | Northwood | $10,000 | Lark Ave between 430th and 440th closed due to high water. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Northwood | $10,000 | The creek in town was reported out of its banks and flooding. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| October 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| October 2006 | Hail | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Northwood | $5,000 | A small debris cloud was noted by a storm chaser. |
| May 2006 | Hail | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| October 2006 | Hail | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Hail | Northwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Northwood | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Lightning | Northwood | $2,000 | Coop observer reported that lightning hit a walnut tree 100 ft. from the house and fried the well pump. |
| June 1995 | Hail | Northwood | $2,000 | The air mass over Iowa became very unstable during the late afternoon hours. Dew point temperatures soared into the lower 70s F. with surface temperatures reaching the middle 80s to lower 90s F. CAPE values reached 3500 J-kg-1 by the latter part of the afternoon. A small cluster of thunderstorms developed over north-central Iowa. One of them became severe and produced inch diameter hail west of Northwood. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Northwood | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $2,000 | no account filed |
| March 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $1,000 | An intense low pressure moved from western Kansas into northwest Iowa during the say. Strong southeast winds drew moisture north from the Gulf of Mexico. Surface dew point temperatures reached the lower 50s ahead of a dry line rotating around the south side of the low. Dew point temperatures were in the 10-12° C range at 850 mb. Thunderstorms erupted during the late afternoon and early evening hours just ahead of the dry line. They became severe over south central Iowa and moved/developed north into the north central counties of the state. Helicity values were quite high in spite of the relatively low cape values. Helicity was in the 550 m2-s-2, while CAPE values were around 500 J-kg-1. Initially, the thunderstorms produced hail. There were several reports of hail in the three-quarter to one inch diameter range from Osceola to just south of Des Moines. WSR-88D VIL values were in the 45-50 kg-m-2 range. One of the stronger cells produced a funnel cloud over Warren County. Spotters were able to watch a rotating wall cloud form just before the funnel formed. As the storms worked north, hail nearly an inch in diameter was reported in Hancock County. Gusty winds became a problem. Wind gusts of 60-65 MPH were reported in Winnebago, Cerro Gordo, and Worth Counties. The storms were quite quick moving, however a series of cells moved across the Des Moines area. They produced heavy rainfall with three inches falling in a short period of time over the eastern sections of Des Moines. This resulted in urban flooding in the area with water over the roads. Soil conditions were quite saturated prior to the rainfall. |
| May 2006 | Hail | Northwood | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | $1,000 | no account filed |
| August 1993 | Hail | Northwood | $500 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | - | Trained spotter reported downed trees along Highway 105, 1 mile west of Northwood. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | - | Reports of trees and powerlines down in Northwood. Time of occurrence estimated from radar. |
| September 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Northwood | - | Several trees down. Time estimate by radar. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | Northwood | - | Water was several inches deep and completely covering 13th Street South in Northwood. |
| June 2018 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.17 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Coop observer measured heavy rainfall of 3.15 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| September 2016 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 4.13 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| September 2016 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 4.13 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| August 2016 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Coop observer reported storm total heavy rainfall of 4.55 inches. End time radar estimated. |
| July 2015 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 2.82 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| December 2015 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 1.55 inches over the last 48 hours/storm total so far. |
| June 2013 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | A Co-op observer measured 1.97 inches of rain between 1700 and 1730 CST. |
| July 2011 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Rainfall of 4.50 inches. |
| July 2011 | Heavy Rain | Northwood | - | Heavy rainfall of 4.64 inches from 1430 to 1800 CST. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kensett | 6.3 miles | 7 | |
| Deer Creek | 6.3 miles | 7 | |
| Bolan | 7.3 miles | 7 | |
| Glade | 7.7 miles | 7 | |
| Silver Lake | 8.1 miles | 7 | |
| Somber | 9.6 miles | 7 | |
| Meltonville | 10.3 miles | 7 | |
| Manly | 10.9 miles | 7 |
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 Northwood | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1913199 | 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 459654. 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.




