BlockBefore

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.

Royal within Clay County

Population over time

2 figures

Royal 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.

YearPeople Change
2010446
2020379-67 (-15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 7 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 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/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
3 October 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources390 ST., IA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clay County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Clay County

Storms near this place

37 since 1997

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2008Tornado (EF2)Royal$300,000A 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 2004Tornado (F1)Royal$230,000A tornado destroyed a farm house and several other buildings on a farm.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindRoyal$50,000Thunderstorm winds cause tree damage, and blew down power lines, starting a small fire. One tree fell on and severely damaged a camper.
October 2002HailRoyal$50,000Large 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 2021Thunderstorm WindRoyal$25,000Thunderstorm winds knocked down an old barn, with several other outbuildings damaged. Property damage costs are a rough estimate.
June 2014Tornado (EF0)Royal$5,000A brief tornado damaged a few outbuildings.
May 2024HailRoyal-Picture of hail was accompanied by a tape measure for reference.
May 2024HailRoyal-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 2022Thunderstorm WindRoyal-Several trees were downed just west of Royal by thunderstorm wind gusts.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindRoyal-Thunderstorm winds downed a large pine tree.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindRoyal-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches blown down.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindRoyal-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindRoyal-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches blown down.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindRoyal-Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage, including several power poles blown down.
May 2004HailRoyal-Large hail caused damage to vehicles and roofs, and cracked windows. The amount of damage was not known.
May 2004HailRoyal-Large hail damaged roofs and siding on homes, damaged vehicles, and broke windows. The amount of damage was not known.
October 2002Thunderstorm WindRoyal-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including six inch diameter limbs broken off.
May 2024HailRoyal-no account filed
July 2019HailRoyal-no account filed
June 2016HailRoyal-no account filed
July 2009HailRoyal-no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindRoyal-no account filed
August 2008HailRoyal-no account filed
July 2007Thunderstorm WindRoyal-no account filed
June 2005HailRoyal-no account filed
September 2005HailRoyal-no account filed
October 2005Thunderstorm WindRoyal-no account filed
October 2002HailRoyal-no account filed
October 2002HailRoyal-no account filed
April 2002HailRoyal-no account filed
May 2001HailRoyal-no account filed
April 2001HailRoyal-no account filed
June 2001HailRoyal-no account filed
August 2000HailRoyal-no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindRoyal-no account filed
July 1998HailRoyal-no account filed
July 1997HailRoyal-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Clay 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
Rossie6.2 miles7
Everly6.9 miles7
Greenville8.0 miles7
Spencer9.1 miles8
Birchwood Estates9.9 miles8
Peterson10.7 miles9
Cornell11.3 miles9
Maclay (historical)13.0 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 RoyalAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1911284The 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.