BlockBefore

Palo, Iowa

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Fayette Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52324. It stands on Dry Creek. The Survey maps it on the Shellsburg quadrangle. 1,407 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 741 feet above sea level.

Palo within Linn County

Population over time

2 figures

Palo grew from 1,026 to 1,407 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
20101,026
20201,407+381 (+37%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 16 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

19 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Palo between 2003 and 2017, burning about 34 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 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/undetermined10
Recreation and ceremony5
Natural1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Arson/incendiarism1
Debris and open burning1

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
30 September 2004Recreation and ceremony3.0 acresIowa State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
30 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resources6671 LINN - BENTON RD., PALO, IA, IA
23 June 2012Naturalunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 May 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresIowa State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
3 April 2004Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresIowa State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
23 April 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 April 2003Arson/incendiarismunder an acreIowa State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
15 April 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Linn County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 14 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of Palo: 11 past producers, 3 producers. 3 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Long QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Old Long QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Owens QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Palo QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Aggregates Inc. Site No. 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cedar Rapids Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Francik PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Freese PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Linn County

Storms near this place

31 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Palo in 31 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 12 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 3 funnel cloud, 2 tornado. The reports record 1 death. 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 2015LightningPalo1 killedA 42 year old female was struck and killed by lightning while camping at the Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area near Palo.
May 2004Tornado (F3)Palo$250,000Rated F3 with winds estimated at 175 mph.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindPalo$250,000no account filed
May 2001Thunderstorm WindPalo$50,000Grain silos and a cabin were damaged. Reported by trained storm spotters.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindPalo$50,000no account filed
June 2010Flash FloodPalo$5,000Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding of Bear Creek north of Palo, IA forcing the closure of Palo Marsh Road during the late morning and afternoon of June 15.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindPalo$3,000Power out
July 2023Thunderstorm WindPalo-Report of 70 mph wind gust from thunderstorm.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindPalo-Local law enforcement reported large tree branches down on power lines near the intersection of Covington Road and Lone Tree Road.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPalo-A trained spotter observed power flashes around 5:10 AM CDT this morning and later in the morning there were power lines observed down in the area with the power out.
June 2015HailPalo-Hail reported at Duane Arnold Energy Center.
June 2015HailPalo-Penny size hail and heavy rain was reported.
June 2015HailPalo-Hail started as quarter size, increased to golf ball size, and lasted 8 minutes.
November 2015Thunderstorm WindPalo-A public report of winds up to 60 mph occurred with 1 to 2 inch diameter branches broken off.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindPalo-The emergency manager reported trees down and roofs blown off homes from Palo to Toddville. Winds were estimated over 80 mph.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindPalo-Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph were observed in Palo, IA around 524 am CDT July 11. This report was relayed by the emergency manager.
June 2010Flash FloodPalo-Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding of streets and creeks in Cedar Rapids, IA and Marion, IA during the early evening of June 18.
April 2008HailPalo-The fire department observed penny size hail near Palo.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindPalo-Severe winds pushed an empty grain train down the tracks. Reported by emergency management.
July 2000Funnel CloudPalo-Law enforcement reported a funnel cloud in the Palo area.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindPalo-A Cedar Rapids television station reported a 60 mph thunderstorm gust at a residence near Palo.
March 1998Heavy RainPalo-Strong thunderstorm dumped 3 inches of rain on Palo
March 2022HailPalo-no account filed
June 2015HailPalo-no account filed
June 2015HailPalo-no account filed
June 2002HailPalo-no account filed
June 2002Funnel CloudPalo-no account filed
June 2002Funnel CloudPalo-no account filed
May 2000HailPalo-no account filed
June 2000HailPalo-no account filed
May 1998Tornado (F0)Palo-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Linn 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
Covington4.4 miles16
Toddville4.7 miles18
Linn Junction5.1 miles18
New Buffalo5.3 miles18
Midway5.9 miles18
Hiawatha6.4 miles18
Sunset Village6.5 miles18
Hiawatha Oak Brook Court6.8 miles18

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 PaloAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1926239The 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 460004. 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.