Royal, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Clay Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51357. The Survey maps it on the Royal quadrangle. 379 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,411 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRoyal fell from 446 to 379 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 | 446 | |
| 2020 | 379 | -67 (-15%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 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 Fairmont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Royal quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Iowa Great Lakes quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Royal in 2011, burning about 2 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 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 October 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 390 ST., IA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Royal: 1 past producer. None of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
37 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Royal in 37 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 21 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2008 | Tornado (EF2) | Royal | $300,000 | A tornado destroyed or heavily damaged numerous outbuildings on at least 8 affected farmsteads, with damaged buildings including several large sheds. The tornado damaged numerous grain bins, most of which were carried off their foundations, with some being carried as much as a half mile. The ornado also overturned a camper, blew the top off a silo, destroyed a garage, broke windows on a house, and caused considerable damage to trees, power poles, and power lines. |
| May 2004 | Tornado (F1) | Royal | $230,000 | A tornado destroyed a farm house and several other buildings on a farm. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds cause tree damage, and blew down power lines, starting a small fire. One tree fell on and severely damaged a camper. |
| October 2002 | Hail | Royal | $50,000 | Large hail fell in an area 5 to 10 miles wide from west to east across the central part of the county. The hail caused widespread severe damage to corn and soybean crops with many crops totally destroyed. The hail also damaged vehicles and broke some windows where the largest hail fell near Royal. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | $25,000 | Thunderstorm winds knocked down an old barn, with several other outbuildings damaged. Property damage costs are a rough estimate. |
| June 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Royal | $5,000 | A brief tornado damaged a few outbuildings. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Royal | - | Picture of hail was accompanied by a tape measure for reference. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Royal | - | Golf ball to tennis ball sized hail caused damage to the skylight on a camper and downed numerous leaves and branches. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | Several trees were downed just west of Royal by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | Thunderstorm winds downed a large pine tree. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches blown down. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage, including several power poles blown down. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Royal | - | Large hail caused damage to vehicles and roofs, and cracked windows. The amount of damage was not known. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Royal | - | Large hail damaged roofs and siding on homes, damaged vehicles, and broke windows. The amount of damage was not known. |
| October 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including six inch diameter limbs broken off. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| October 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | no account filed |
| October 2002 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| October 2002 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Royal | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Royal | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Royal | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rossie | 6.2 miles | 7 | |
| Everly | 6.9 miles | 7 | |
| Greenville | 8.0 miles | 7 | |
| Spencer | 9.1 miles | 8 | |
| Birchwood Estates | 9.9 miles | 8 | |
| Peterson | 10.7 miles | 9 | |
| Cornell | 11.3 miles | 9 | |
| Maclay (historical) | 13.0 miles | 9 |
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 Royal | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1911284 | 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 460839. 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.



