BlockBefore

Rands, Iowa

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Logan Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51453. The Survey maps it on the Lohrville quadrangle. It stands 1,181 feet above sea level.

Rands within Calhoun County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 8 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

10 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Rands between 2011 and 2020, burning about 87 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/undetermined4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Debris and open burning2
Smoking1

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
29 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources2 EAST 2 NORTH 1/4 EAST OF LOHRVILLE, IA
29 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources1 MILE N AND 2 1/4 MILES WEST OF LOHRVILLE, IA
27 September 2012Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 August 2019Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
28 August 2013Smoking4.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2013Debris and open burning30 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
16 April 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Calhoun County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Rands: 2 past producers. None of them 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Drennan PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Parsons PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Calhoun County

Storms near this place

3 since 2020

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rands in 3 storm reports between 2020 and 2024: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. 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
April 2024Tornado (EF1)Rands$12,000Video from storm chaser provided footage for entire life cycle of tornado. The tornado formed just northwest of the hamlet of Rands and produced EF1 damage to telephone poles. The tornado traveled almost due north along Quinton Avenue and passed east of the Rockwell City Correctional Faciliity. It crossed old Highway 20 near Quinton Avenue and passed through a farmstead with only minor damage. The tornado eventually lifted after passing over a railroad.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindRands-Grain bin destroyed at Rand's co-op. Time estimated via radar.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindRands-Trained spotter reported trees down and roof off building.

Every storm recorded in Calhoun 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
Stimsons (historical)2.3 miles8
Piper3.1 miles8
Lohrville4.1 miles8
Rinard4.9 miles8
Rockwell City5.7 miles8
Wightman6.6 miles8
Richard7.6 miles8
Sherwood8.2 miles8

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 RandsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q18393457The 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 464712. 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.