Pocahontas, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Center Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50574. The Survey maps it on the Pocahontas quadrangle. 1,867 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,220 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Pocahontas
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 2 records
Pocahontas County Courthouselisted 1981
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Churchlisted 1994
Population over time
3 figuresPocahontas fell from 1,970 to 1,867 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 | 1,970 | |
| 2010 | 1,789 | -181 (-9%) |
| 2020 | 1,867 | +78 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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 Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Pocahontas quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Humboldt quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Pocahontas: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. 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.
Storms near this place
60 of 62 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pocahontas in 62 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 25 hail, 16 heavy rain, 14 thunderstorm wind, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $100,000 | Coop building and implement machine shed had significant damage near Highway 3 and Main Street. Several large tree branches were down with whole trees downed on the northeast side of town. Tree damage was also reported at the country club in town. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $100,000 | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Flood | Pocahontas | $75,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | Pocahontas | $50,000 | Trained spotter reported Highway 4 in Pocahontas was partially covered and some side streets in town were covered in water as well. |
| September 1994 | Hail | Pocahontas | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Flash Flood | Pocahontas | $40,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $30,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Flood | Pocahontas | $30,000 | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $30,000 | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Pocahontas | $25,000 | Golf ball size hail was reported on the north side of town with half dollar size hail reported at the Casey's location. |
| August 2004 | Hail | Pocahontas | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $20,000 | no account filed |
| October 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $20,000 | no account filed |
| September 1999 | Hail | Pocahontas | $15,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | Pocahontas | $10,000 | Public reported ditches full and field covered in rain water. Highway 4 was partially covered with water as well. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $10,000 | A wind gust of 65 MPH as measured by a hand-held anemometer. |
| May 2006 | Hail | Pocahontas | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Pocahontas | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Pocahontas | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Flood | Pocahontas | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Pocahontas | $5,000 | Public reported, relayed by local media, hail around 2 inches in diameter. Time and location estimated from radar and this is a delayed report. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Pocahontas | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Pocahontas | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Hail | Pocahontas | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Pocahontas | $3,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Pocahontas | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $2,000 | Trained spotter reported strong winds and heavy rainfall. Many streets in town had tree branches down ranging from small sticks to big, round branches. A tree was snapped at one of the cemeteries on the east side of town. Standing water throughout town. |
| July 2000 | Hail | Pocahontas | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Pocahontas | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Event total of 2.20 inches. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | Trained spotter reported penny and quarter sized hail. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | Law enforcement reported golf ball sized hail roughly half a mile west of Pocahontas. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | Law enforcement reports golf ball sized hail just south of Pocahontas near Highway 4. |
| August 2022 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Report of 2.5 inches of rain west of Pocahontas in about 30 minutes. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | - | Report of trees down in Pocahontas with a few blocking roads. |
| August 2021 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | A 24 hour rain total of 2.15 inches. |
| August 2021 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | CWOP report from a personal weather station of 2.41 inches of rain in 3 hours. |
| June 2018 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | Public reported nickel sized hail. |
| August 2018 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | Public reported quarter sized hail. |
| June 2018 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.5 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| July 2018 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.90 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| July 2018 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.90 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| June 2018 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.1 inches. |
| June 2018 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | Pocahontas Sheriff reported nickel sized hail near the Pocahontas Community Hospital. Time estimated from radar. |
| July 2018 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.50 inches over the last 24 hours. Due to database entry limitation, beginning time coded as midnight CST. |
| July 2018 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 2.50 inches. Due to database entry limitation, beginning time coded as midnight CST. Actual estimated start time of 4pm CDT on June 30th. |
| August 2017 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail. |
| September 2016 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 2.95 inches. |
| August 2015 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 4.50 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| August 2015 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.25 inches. End time radar estimated. |
| December 2015 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 2.51 inches over the last 48 hours/storm total so far. |
| June 2012 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Heavy rainfall with 1.85 inches falling in 45 minutes. |
| July 2010 | Heavy Rain | Pocahontas | - | Rainfall since 0200 CST was 3.17 inches. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pocahontas | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Pocahontas | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Pocahontas | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1911242 | 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 460342. 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.
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.




