BlockBefore

Roberts, Iowa

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1923 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Elkhorn Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50569. The Survey maps it on the Fort Dodge South quadrangle.

Roberts within Webster County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

15 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Roberts between 2013 and 2020, burning about 182 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were 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
Smoking6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Arson/incendiarism3
Debris and open burning1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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 August 2013Smoking1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 August 2020Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 May 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
27 April 2015Smokingunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
24 April 2015Smoking2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 April 2014Arson/incendiarism10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 April 2015Smoking45 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Webster County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 32 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 32 workings within 5 miles of Roberts: 20 past producers, 11 producers, 1 unknown. 11 still produce. What was taken out: Gypsum-Anhydrite, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Perlite, Clay. 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
Lehigh Pit & PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Fort Dodge PlantGypsum-Anhydrite, PerlitePast Producer
Johnston Clay WorksClayPast Producer
Kalo Brick and Tile Co.ClayPast Producer
National Gypsum PlantGypsum-Anhydrite, PerliteProducer
U S Gypsum PlantGypsum-Anhydrite, PerliteProducer
Vincent Clay Products Co.ClayPast Producer
Black PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hoover PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hudson/Otho PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Webster County

Storms near this place

27 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Roberts in 27 storm reports between 2008 and 2024: 21 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy rain, 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
May 2018FloodRoberts$200,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 11.44 feet on 4 May 2018 at 22:30 UTC.
May 2019FloodRoberts$100,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 11.44 feet on 25 May 2019 at 22:45 UTC.
March 2018FloodRoberts$100,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 14.61 ft on 5 March 2018 at 0645 UTC.
June 2018FloodRoberts$100,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested 4 times during the period the river was in flood. It remained in flood into July. The first crest was at 11.24 feet on 21 June 2018 at 07:00 UTC, the second at 12.75 feet on 23 June 2018 at 04:45 UTC, the third at 12.88 feet on 24 June 2018 at 21:15 UTC, and the fourth crest at 20.26 feet on 27 June 2018 at 22:15 UTC.
July 2018FloodRoberts$100,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge went into flood in late June and remained in flood through early July. The river crested twice in July. The first crest was at 13.43 feet on 1 July 2018 at 21:45Z, and the second crest was at 12.55 feet on 6 July 2018 at 20:15 UTC.
September 2018FloodRoberts$100,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 14.14 feet on 23 September 2018 at 1645 UTC.
May 2019FloodRoberts$50,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 10.57 feet on 28 May 2019 at 22:45 UTC.
May 2019FloodRoberts$50,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 10.88 feet on 31 May 2019 at 07:30 UTC.
June 2018FloodRoberts$50,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 10.98 feet on 14 June 2018 at 21:15 UTC.
October 2018FloodRoberts$50,000The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 10.81 ft on 11 October 2018 at 09:15 UTC.
December 2015FloodRoberts$50,000The Des Moines River crested at 10.99 feet on 16 December 2015 at 06:15 UTC.
December 2015FloodRoberts$50,000The Des Moines River crested at 10.99 feet on 16 December 2015 at 06:15 UTC.
June 2008Flash FloodRoberts$10,000Water was over the road at the underpass of Highway 20 and Highway 169 interchange.
May 2024FloodRoberts-The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 11.02 ft on May 23 at 5:45 pm CDT.
June 2024FloodRoberts-The Des Moines at Fort Dodge crested at 17.12 ft on June 27 at 04:30 am CDT. The river remained in flood through the end of the month and into July.
July 2024FloodRoberts-The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge remained in flood from a peak crest in June 2024.
March 2019FloodRoberts-The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge went into flood 3 times and crested 8 times during the month of March. The first two periods of flood were likely due to ice jams. The first two crests occurred with the first period of flood, check other entries for later crests. The first crest during this period was 11.98 feet on 15 March 2019 at 03:00 UTC and the second crest was 12.03 feet on 15 March 2019 at 06:00 UTC.
March 2019FloodRoberts-This was the second period of flood during the month of March for the Des Moines River at Fort Dodge. Two of the 8 crests that occurred during the flood periods in March occurred during this flood period and were likely due to ice jams. The first crest during this period (third overall for March) was 11.28 feet on 15 March 2019 at 22:45 UTC and the second crest this period (fourth overall for March) was 11.28 feet on 16 March 2019 at 04:45 UTC.
March 2019FloodRoberts-This was the third period of flood during the month of March for the Des Moines River at Fort Dodge. The flooding from this period continued into April. Four of the 8 crests that occurred during the flood periods in March occurred during this flood period. The first crest during this period (fifth overall for March) was 12.42 feet on 17 March 2019 at 03:30 UTC, the second crest this period (sixth overall for March) was 12.59 feet on 18 March 2019 at 07:15 UTC, the third crest this period (seventh overall for March) was 13.72 feet on 19 March 2019 at 12:30 UTC, and the fourth crest this period (eighth overall for March) was 15.04 feet on 21 March 2019 at 10:00 UTC.
April 2019FloodRoberts-The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge lingered in flood from the month of March. There was no crest during the flood period in April. The river continued to fall through the early portion of April, going out of flood during the day on the 2nd.
June 2019FloodRoberts-The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 10.9 feet on 3 June 2019 at 00:15 UTC.
June 2018FloodRoberts-The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 10.93 feet on 15 June 2018 at 19:00 UTC.
August 2018Heavy RainRoberts-CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 5.93 inches over the last 48 hours.
September 2018Heavy RainRoberts-CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.41 inches over the last 24 hours.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindRoberts-A 50.2 kt gust was recorded by the Fort Dodge RWIS station.
August 2014Tornado (EF0)Roberts-Narrow tornado tracked just south of Highway 20 near Fort Dodge. Tornado produce crop damage and crossed Highway 169 before dissipating. Tornado was found and rated using high resolution satellite imagery.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindRoberts-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Webster 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
Otho1.3 miles11
Kalo2.3 miles11
Shady Oak2.6 miles11
Coalville2.9 miles11
Lundgren4.0 miles12
Cypsum City (historical)4.1 miles11
West Fort Dodge (historical)4.2 miles11
Fort Dodge4.9 miles11

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 464722. 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.