BlockOlaf, Iowa
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Belmond Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50421. The Survey maps it on the Olaf quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 9 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 Waterloo quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Waterloo quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1972 USGS Olaf quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Iowa Falls quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Olaf between 2009 and 2014, burning about 32 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Olaf: 3 producers, 2 unknowns, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Echhoff Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Nelson Pit and Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Ruka Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Sec 32 Sw4 Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Welch Property | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
8 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Olaf in 8 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 3 tornado, 2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2013 | Tornado (EF3) | Olaf | $500,000 | EF3 tornado with a winds of 155 MPH. Damaged farmsteads and businesses with most damage on the north edge of Belmond near the intersection of Highway 65 and County Road C20. |
| April 2009 | Hail | Olaf | $1,000 | Nickel to quarter size hail reported. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Olaf | - | Wind gust measured by a personal weather station. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Olaf | - | Paved county road closed due to flooding. |
| December 2021 | Tornado (EFU) | Olaf | - | This tornado produced a depression on the WSR-88D correlation coefficient product and a short path was also observed on high resolution satellite imagery. This tornado touched down in far north central Wright County and crossed over the Union Pacific rail line before entering into Hancock County. No damage was reported in Wright County, hence the EFU rating for this segment. |
| September 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Olaf | - | Public report of tree damage on property with pea sized hail. Report relayed via social media. |
| August 2014 | Hail | Olaf | - | Winds were also estimated in the 45 to 50 MPH range. |
| June 2013 | Tornado (EF0) | Olaf | - | This tornado occurred as the Belmond EF3 tornado was passing just northeast of town. The tornado tracked south-southeast across open farmland before dissipating. The track was very evident in satellite imagery taken shortly after the storm occurred. The location of the tornado in the storm, track direction and streaks in the satellite imagery all suggest that this tornado rotated anti-cyclonically. |
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.
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 464680. 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.