Rolfe, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Rolfe City. It lies in ZIP code area 50581. It stands on Crooked Creek. The Survey maps it on the Rolfe quadrangle. 509 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,184 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRolfe fell from 584 to 509 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 584 | |
| 2020 | 509 | -75 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1954 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Rolfe quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Humboldt quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
6 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Rolfe between 2006 and 2017, burning about 76 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/undetermined | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 July 2017 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 April 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 March 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 March 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 25 February 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Rolfe: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carpenter Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Zeaman | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
47 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rolfe in 47 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 22 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 5 heavy rain, 4 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $100,000 | Four houses with tree damage and some outbuilding damage. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $75,000 | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $50,000 | Trained spotter reported a moderately sized cattle shed was destroyed along with tree branches down around the homestead. A grain bin was also blown a half-mile into a nearby field. Another shed was badly damaged at a nearby homestead. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $25,000 | Several 3 to 4 inch diameter tree limbs down, some over 6 inches. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $25,000 | Trees down in Rolfe and in Pocahontas. Twelve inch or larger tree limbs down in Rolfe. A sliding door was blown off of building that stores semi trucks. |
| May 2004 | Tornado (F1) | Rolfe | $25,000 | Tornado tracked southeast in open fields, just missing the town of Rolfe. |
| May 2004 | Tornado (F2) | Rolfe | $25,000 | Tornado touched down in open areas east of Rolfe. It did some damage but didn't do significant damage before crossing into Humboldt County. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $20,000 | Several trees were reported downed by high winds. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $15,000 | Trained spotter reported several large limbs down and trees split in half. The diameter of some trees were around 24 inches. |
| April 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Rolfe | $10,000 | A storm chaser captured video of this brief tornado as it moved just east of Rolfe. The tornado produced some minor damage to a couple of farmsteads on the east side of Rolfe along with some tree damage. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $10,000 | Trained spotter estimated winds at 55 to 60 mph. Winds had ripped a farm windmill out of the ground. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $10,000 | A Large tree fell and toppled power lines in the town of Rolfe. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $10,000 | Trees of 12 inches in diameter were blown down. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $10,000 | Several 6 inch tree limbs down in town. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $10,000 | Several large tree limbs were blown down in town along with one power line. |
| July 2009 | Hail | Rolfe | $10,000 | Nickel to quarter size hail covered the ground to a depth of a few inches. Trees were shredded and soybean fields were stripped down. Tree limbs up to 7 inches in diameter were blown down. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $5,000 | Numerous tree branches blown down and blocking the road. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | $5,000 | Winds were estimated to be 60 to 70 MPH along with very heavy rain. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rolfe | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rolfe | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rolfe | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Rolfe | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Rolfe | $2,000 | Hail was reported by public three quarter to one inch in diameter. |
| July 2003 | Hail | Rolfe | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Rolfe | $1,000 | no account filed |
| April 2024 | Tornado (EFU) | Rolfe | - | This tornado was captured on video as it moved northward through rural farmland south of Rolfe. The tornado did not impact any damage indicators, hence the EFU rating. |
| May 2023 | Heavy Rain | Rolfe | - | Storm total of 4.25 inches. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Rolfe | - | Trained spotter reported half dollar sized hail. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Rolfe | - | Broadcast media reported 2.5 inch hail northwest of Gilmore City. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Rolfe | - | Public report of 2.5 inch hail northwest of Gilmore City. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Rolfe | - | Penny size hail was reported in Rolfe. |
| July 2018 | Funnel Cloud | Rolfe | - | Public reported a funnel cloud. |
| June 2018 | Hail | Rolfe | - | Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail. |
| June 2018 | Hail | Rolfe | - | Trained spotter reported half dollar sized hail. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | Rolfe | - | Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 1.6 inches from storms this morning. |
| September 2016 | Heavy Rain | Rolfe | - | Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 2.70 inches over the past 24 hours. |
| August 2016 | Heavy Rain | Rolfe | - | Trained spotter measured heavy rainfall of 2.6 inches today. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolfe | - | Measured on a personal weather station. |
| August 2015 | Heavy Rain | Rolfe | - | Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 5.40 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| July 2009 | Hail | Rolfe | - | Hail was reported between Plover and Rolfe. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rolfe | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rolfe | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rolfe | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rolfe | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Rolfe | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Rolfe | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Rolfe | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rubens Siding | 2.9 miles | 8 | |
| Rolfe (historical) | 3.1 miles | 8 | |
| Plover | 6.7 miles | 8 | |
| Ridotto | 8.0 miles | 8 | |
| Pocahontas | 9.2 miles | 8 | |
| Havelock | 9.3 miles | 8 | |
| Westview | 10.4 miles | 8 | |
| Lizard (historical) | 12.3 miles | 8 |
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 Rolfe | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q427699 | The 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 460770. 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.




