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Pierson, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Rutland Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51048. The Survey maps it on the Pierson quadrangle. 337 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,280 feet above sea level.

Pierson within Woodbury County

Population over time

2 figures

Pierson fell from 366 to 337 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
2010366
2020337-29 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

2 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Pierson between 2009 and 2020, burning about 3 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 burning1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
19 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
30 October 2020Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Woodbury County

Storms near this place

32 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pierson in 32 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 17 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 5 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 2001Thunderstorm WindPierson$500,000Thunderstorm winds damaged power lines and trees. The winds also damaged buildings, including roofs, siding, and windows. A barn and grain bin were destroyed.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindPierson$50,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindPierson$25,000Thunderstorm winds blew thew roof off a business.
August 1998Thunderstorm WindPierson$10,000no account filed
June 1994HailPierson$5,000no account filed
August 2021Thunderstorm WindPierson$2,000Thunderstorm winds snapped a large tree, with numerous 6 inch diameter limbs also down. Property damage costs are a rough estimate.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindPierson-Thunderstorm winds took down several large trees, some on top of vehicles.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindPierson-Thunderstorm winds downed multiple trees in Pierson.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindPierson-A large tree branch was downed by thunderstorm winds in Pierson.
June 2024FloodPierson-The Little Sioux River near Correctionville rose above flood stage the morning of June 23rd, cresting around 11.92 feet above flood stage (30.92 feet) on June 25th. This crest is in the Major Stage and broke the previous record. The river stayed above flood stage into July. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Woodbury County.
June 2021HailPierson-The wind-driven hail damage path continued out of Plymouth and Cherokee Counties into Woodbury County, where the continuous path ended around 2 miles east southeast of Pierson. The largest hail reported along the path was observed near Pierson with golf ball size hail at 1748 CST. Half dollar size hail was reported at 1755 CST 3.5 miles north northwest of Correctionville. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
March 2019FloodPierson-Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 1.20 inches at Holstein) resulted in significant flooding of agricultural lands and several state and county roads. Iowa Highway 31 was overtopped, and water flowed into southern sections of Correctionville impacting several homes and businesses. The Little Sioux River at Correctionville (gage site CRRI4) reached the second highest stage on record cresting 7.45 feet above flood stage on March 15.
July 2018FloodPierson-Numerous roads, including State Highway 31 and county road D22 were inundated for several days at the start of the month. Significant amounts of crop and pasture land near the Little Sioux River were severely impacted by major flooding as river levels started the month at 4.4 feet above flood stage at Correctionville (gage site CRRI4).
September 2018FloodPierson-Rainfall throughout the Little Sioux Basin during the period of September 18-21 totaled generally 4 to 8 inches, resulting in major flooding. Significant crop and pasture land was flooded, and several roads were inundated including State Highway 31 both north and south of Correctionville, as well as county roads D22, L36 and L27. Water reached several homes in the southern portions of Correctionville. The Little Sioux River at Correctionville (gage site CRRI4) crested at 5.3 feet above flood stage on September 24.
June 2018FloodPierson-A week of prolific rainfall ending June 26 resulted in a widespread 4 to 7 inches of rainfall, much of which occurred on June 20 and 24. Specific weekly totals included 3.65 east of Sioux Rapids, 4.00 at Cherokee, 4.90 north of Cleghorn, 4.03 at Spencer and 6.70 near Everly. Major flooding occurred with significant amounts of crop and pasture land inundated as the river crested at Correctionville (gage site CRRI4) at 4.6 feet above flood stage on June 30. The river remained in major flood stage at the end of the month.
June 2008Tornado (EF0)Pierson-A brief tornado caused no reported damage.
September 2005HailPierson-Large hail caused crop damage, including an estimated 70 percent of one farmer's soybean crop that was destroyed. The hail covered the ground and blew into drifts that remained for 8 hours. The amount of crop damage was not known.
June 2003Flash FloodPierson-Heavy rainfall of around five inches resulted in flooding of small creeks...streets...and other low areas. The flash flooding included Pierson Creek, which rose rapidly out of its banks.
November 2015HailPierson-no account filed
August 2009HailPierson-no account filed
May 2008HailPierson-no account filed
May 2008HailPierson-no account filed
March 2007HailPierson-no account filed
July 2006HailPierson-no account filed
August 2005HailPierson-no account filed
May 2004HailPierson-no account filed
June 2004HailPierson-no account filed
July 2003HailPierson-no account filed
April 2001HailPierson-no account filed
August 2001HailPierson-no account filed
June 1999HailPierson-no account filed
June 1996HailPierson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Woodbury 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
Correctionville6.5 miles8
Anthon10.8 miles8
Moville11.5 miles9
Cushing11.6 miles8
Lucky Valley (historical)11.6 miles8
Midway14.0 miles9
Lawton17.4 miles9
Climbing Hill17.9 miles9

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 PiersonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1918002The 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 460129. 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.

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.