BlockBefore

Ritter, Iowa

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Floyd Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51201. The Survey maps it on the Sheldon quadrangle. It stands 1,427 feet above sea level.

Ritter within O'Brien County

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 7 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

13 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Ritter between 2007 and 2020, burning about 56 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 burning8
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5

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/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural ResourcesHWY 60 AND 250TH ST., IA
11 July 2020Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 May 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
24 May 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 April 2019Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 March 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 November 2020Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in O'Brien County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 28 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 28 workings within 5 miles of Ritter: 19 past producers, 9 producers. 9 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Ashton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Ashton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Faber PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Floyd River PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Frisbee PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hanson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Maudlin Const CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Oelrich FmSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Osceola County PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Ruby PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in O'Brien County

Storms near this place

10 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ritter in 10 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 7 flood, 2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 2014FloodRitter$50,000Persistent moderate to heavy rain caused flooding of fields and other lowlands, including several roads, homes, and businesses. This flooding lasted for almost two days, and was aggravated locally by additional storms during that time. Some roads were damaged or washed out.
May 2024FloodRitter-A period of thunderstorms, followed by multiple hours of persistent moderate rainfall, resulted in excessive ponding of water in fields and rural roads. This included water over the road near the intersection of Nest Ave and 310th St. Rainfall totals through the entire event were reported between 2 to 4.5 inches.
June 2024FloodRitter-The Floyd River at Sheldon rose above flood stage the morning of June 21st, cresting around 5.7 feet above flood stage (17.7 feet) on June 22nd. This crest is in the Major Stage. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of June 24th. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for O'Brien County.
July 2023HailRitter-Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
March 2019FloodRitter-Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 1.82 inches at Sheldon and 1.92 inches at Sanborn) resulted in significant flooding of agricultural lands. The Floyd River at Sheldon (gage site SHLI4) reached the fourth highest stage on record cresting 1.70 feet above flood stage on March 14.
June 2018FloodRitter-A week of periodic heavy rainfall ending June 26 resulted in a widespread 4 to 8 inches of rainfall, much of which occurred on June 20 and 24. Weekly rainfall totaled 7.36 inches at Sheldon, 7.31 inches at Sibley and 6.13 inches at Sanborn. Moderate flooding occurred with significant amounts of crop and pasture land, as well as the Sheldon Golf Course, inundated as the Floyd River at Sheldon (gage site SHLI4) crested 3.5 feet above flood stage on June 21. The river dropped below flood stage on June 21.
September 2018FloodRitter-Widespread rainfall from September 18-20 totaled generally 5 to 10 inches, resulting in moderate flooding. Most farmland within 1000 feet of the river was inundated as the Floyd River at Sheldon (gage site SHLI4) crested at 2.5 feet above flood stage on September 20.
March 2011FloodRitter-Melting of a heavy winter snow cover caused flooding of lowlands, lakes, and streams. There was considerable flooding of farmland. Several roads in the county were flooded. Some of the roads were closed, and a few were washed out in spots. The flooding onset was rapid for a snow melt flood due to high water and groundwater levels from record precipitation in the year 2010.
September 2025HailRitter-no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindRitter-no account filed

Every storm recorded in O'Brien 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
Sheldon4.7 miles7
Evander (historical)5.5 miles7
Archer9.8 miles7
Sanborn9.9 miles7
Philby12.1 miles7
Max12.7 miles7
Plessis14.6 miles7
Primghar15.0 miles7

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 RitterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q17108586The 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 464720. 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.