BlockBefore

Rockwell, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Geneseo Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50469. The Survey maps it on the Sheffield quadrangle. 1,071 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,115 feet above sea level.

Rockwell within Cerro Gordo County

Population over time

2 figures

Rockwell grew from 1,039 to 1,071 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
20101,039
20201,071+32 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 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

1 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Rockwell in 2011, burning about 5 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/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
21 March 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources2967 MALLARD AVE, IA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cerro Gordo County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Rockwell: 7 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Ubben QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Rockwell PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Cerro Gordo County

Storms near this place

23 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rockwell in 23 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 8 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 tornado, 2 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
September 2016Flash FloodRockwell$100,000DOT reported county roads flooded near Rockwell. Delayed report.
September 2016Flash FloodRockwell$50,000Law enforcement reported barricades put up due to street flooding along Highway 65 near Rockwell.
July 2003HailRockwell$50,000no account filed
April 1999Thunderstorm WindRockwell$45,000no account filed
August 1995Thunderstorm WindRockwell$30,000no account filed
July 2003HailRockwell$25,000no account filed
July 2003HailRockwell$20,000no account filed
July 2003HailRockwell$20,000no account filed
August 2007Thunderstorm WindRockwell$15,000Several trees were downed by high winds. An electrical line was smoking with a tree down on it.
July 2021Tornado (EF0)Rockwell$10,000Tornado was reported by a trained spotter northeast of Rockwell. Tornado path was determined using high resolution satellite imagery. The tornado developed and moved to the east, mostly across open agricultural fields. It did blow down a grain bin on a farmstead and with some minor tree damage as well. The tornado then began to move southeast continuing to remain in open cropland. One final farmstead was impacted with some tree damage before the tornado lifted.
May 2008HailRockwell$10,000Report received from a KIMT TV viewer.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindRockwell$10,000Several 6 to 8 inch tree limbs were blown down, some possibly larger, were blocking at least 10 roads in the town of Rockwell.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindRockwell$10,000High winds blew down about a half dozen trees.
July 2003HailRockwell$10,000no account filed
August 2002LightningRockwell$10,000no account filed
May 2017Thunderstorm WindRockwell$5,000Major tree damage reported in the area with large limbs down.
April 2010HailRockwell$3,000no account filed
June 2010HailRockwell$1,000no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindRockwell$1,000no account filed
December 2021Tornado (EF0)Rockwell$500This tornado was originally found using high resolution satellite imagery. Some damage to trees did occur with little else noted.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindRockwell-Public mping report of trees uprooted or snapped, roof damage.
August 2021Funnel CloudRockwell-A funnel cloud was reported north of Sheffield. The funnel cloud was low but unclear if it was in contact with the ground.
June 2002Tornado (F1)Rockwell-Intermittent track. Moved into Butler County.

Every storm recorded in Cerro Gordo 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
Hurley2.7 miles8
Cartersville5.8 miles9
Swaledale6.6 miles9
Hanford6.7 miles8
Cameron6.7 miles8
Owen6.8 miles8
Burchinal7.2 miles7
Dougherty9.0 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 RockwellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1913274The 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 460753. 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.