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Roland, Iowa

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Howard Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50236. The Survey maps it on the Story City quadrangle. 1,362 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,024 feet above sea level.

Roland within Story County

Population over time

2 figures

Roland grew from 1,284 to 1,362 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
20101,284
20201,362+78 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

19 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Roland between 2011 and 2020, burning about 31 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/undetermined16
Debris and open burning3

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 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
30 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
24 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 July 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 June 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Story County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Roland: 3 past producers. None of them 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
Twedt-County Line QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Story County

Storms near this place

44 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Roland in 44 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 17 hail, 17 thunderstorm wind, 4 heavy rain, 3 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
November 2005Tornado (F1)Roland$580,000Tornado developed in Story County and moved into Hamilton County.
April 2018Thunderstorm WindRoland$50,000Emergency manager reported semi blown over along I-35 at mile marker 119.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindRoland$50,000A grain bin was destroyed along with several large tree limbs down.
June 1994Tornado (F1)Roland$50,000no account filed
May 2017LightningRoland$25,000Trained spotter reported a lightning strike that hit a tree, resulting in the tree falling onto and damaging the house.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindRoland$25,000Storm chaser reported lots of large tree limbs down, some large trees downed in town, a tree on a house, and power lines downed. This is a delayed report and via social media.
April 2014HailRoland$25,000no account filed
April 2014HailRoland$20,000no account filed
April 2014HailRoland$20,000no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindRoland$20,000no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindRoland$15,000The emergency manager estimates winds of 70 MPH. Tree damage throughout Roland with many large tree branches 6 to 12 inches in diameter down and some trees down as well.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindRoland$15,000The emergency manager reported a large grain bin damaged. It was dented in toward the top. A barn was damaged as well.
April 2014HailRoland$15,000no account filed
May 2012Thunderstorm WindRoland$10,000The top of a tree that was two feet in diameter was snapped off in the town of Roland.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindRoland$10,000Sixty MPH winds along with pea size hail were reported. There was a secondary report of wind damage in the Gilbert area.
July 2008Heavy RainRoland$10,000Storm total for the day was 4.73 inches.
March 2006Thunderstorm WindRoland$10,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindRoland$10,000no account filed
September 2019Thunderstorm WindRoland$5,000Emergency manager reported a 10 to 12 inch tree branch down on a power line. Also tree debris across a 3 to 4 block swath on the north side of town.
April 2014HailRoland$5,000Report via social media through broadcast media.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindRoland$5,000Eight inch diameter tree broken and two six inch diameter branched down. Many smaller branches in the yard.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindRoland$5,000A 3 foot diameter tree was down across the road.
September 1994HailRoland$5,000A strong cold front moved southeast into Iowa in conjunction with strong upper level system. The low level flow had been southerly for several days, transporting moisture north into the central United States. Dew point temperatures had risen into the lower 60s in advance of the cold front. These dew point temperatures combined with ambient air temperatures in the middle 80s helped create enough instability to fire up strong thunderstorms. The storms fired in two areas. The initial storms formed in northwest Iowa and tracked across the north-central into the central counties. A second area of storms developed during the later afternoon hours over the west-central counties. These also tracked east. Most of the storms produced winds of 35 to 50 mph and at least pea- to marble-size hail. The main severe weather associated with the storms was hail. As the initial storms moved through story county, quarter-size hail covered the ground and destroyed several fields of soybeans in Milford Township. Other reports of hail from three-quarters to one inch in diameter were received from northwest into central Iowa. During the late afternoon hours a collision of two outflow boundaries occurred over Boone and Story Counties. These were visible on WSR-88D data. The first boundary sagged south-southwest from the convection over north-central Iowa. The second arched north-northeast to south-southwest from the convection in west-central Iowa. Thunderstorms fired up quickly around 1700 CST over Boone and Story Counties. Quarter-size hail fell in Story County at both Story City and Roland. The main hail fell from the southeast edge of Story City eastward. Reports over the north sections of Story City indicated hail about the size of knitting needle ends. One of the boundaries were set off by thunderstorms to the north. Those storms dropped hail the size of quarters at Webster City in Hamilton County. The storms produced very heavy rainfall in parts of northwest and central Iowa. A few area received over three inches of rain, however no significant flooding occurred due to the dry antecedent conditions. The greatest rainfall reported was in Milford Township of Story County, where three and one-half inches of rain fell in five hours time.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindRoland$3,000Six inch tree branch down in Roland with several other branches of three to six inch diameter downed.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindRoland$3,000no account filed
September 2003HailRoland$2,000no account filed
April 2014HailRoland$1,000no account filed
September 2013HailRoland$1,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindRoland$1,000no account filed
May 2025Funnel CloudRoland-Public report of a brief funnel cloud a little east of Roland. Did not extend far below the cloud base.
July 2024Heavy RainRoland-A report of 3.5 inches of rain storm total.
July 2020HailRoland-A public report via social media of golf ball sized hail.
July 2020HailRoland-Emergency manager relayed a report of tennis ball sized hail at the intersection of 620th ave and 120th st in Story County.
July 2020HailRoland-KCCI relayed a report of tennis ball sized hail.
July 2020HailRoland-Emergency manager reported nickel to quarter sized hail.
May 2019Funnel CloudRoland-Law enforcement reported several spotter reports of funnel clouds in the Roland area.
July 2018Tornado (EF0)Roland-Weak tornado developed just northeast of Roland and moved east northeast in rural agricultural fields. Only damage was to crops. Tornado path was obtained via high resolution satellite imagery.
August 2015Heavy RainRoland-Public reported heavy rainfall total of 3.80 inches over the last 24 hours.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindRoland-Wind gust estimated at 60 MPH.
August 2014Heavy RainRoland-Rainfall of 1.30 was measured in the past 24 hours.
April 2014HailRoland-no account filed
May 2013HailRoland-no account filed
May 2013HailRoland-no account filed
April 2002HailRoland-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Story 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
Story City5.2 miles15
McCallsburg6.2 miles9
Fernald8.7 miles9
Gilbert8.8 miles16
Bloomington8.9 miles16
Homestead Colony8.9 miles16
Nevada10.2 miles9
Zearing10.9 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 RolandAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1925777The 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 460769. 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.