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Russell, Iowa

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1981. It stands in Washington Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50238. The Survey maps it on the Russell quadrangle. 472 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,027 feet above sea level.

Russell within Lucas County

Population over time

2 figures

Russell fell from 554 to 472 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
2010554
2020472-82 (-15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

18 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 18 fires within 5 miles of Russell between 2006 and 2020, burning about 636 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/undetermined11
Debris and open burning6
Smoking1

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
1 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural ResourcesCHARITON VOL FD
5 April 2014Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 April 2014Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 March 2015Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lucas 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 Russell: 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 Lucas County

Storms near this place

60 of 61 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Russell in 61 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 33 flood, 11 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 5 heavy rain. 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
July 2016Thunderstorm WindRussell$50,000Trained spotter reported damaged brick and concrete silos, barn damage, roof damage, and tree damage. Time radar estimated.
May 2013Flash FloodRussell$50,000Several spots have fast flowing water 3 to 4 inches deep across 500th Ave or County line between Lucas and Monroe County.
May 2013Flash FloodRussell$50,000Water over 242nd Ave due to Wolf Creek flooding.
May 2013FloodRussell$50,000no account filed
August 2009FloodRussell$50,000no account filed
March 2008FloodRussell$50,000no account filed
March 2008FloodRussell$50,000no account filed
June 1994HailRussell$50,000no account filed
October 2001HailRussell$40,000no account filed
April 2015HailRussell$25,000Hail covered the ground and stripped decorative concrete from a retaining wall.
April 2010FloodRussell$25,000no account filed
March 2009FloodRussell$25,000no account filed
March 2009FloodRussell$25,000no account filed
April 2008FloodRussell$25,000no account filed
April 2008FloodRussell$25,000no account filed
August 2007FloodRussell$25,000no account filed
July 2016Flash FloodRussell$20,000Law Enforcement reported water onto roadways causing road closures near 500th street and 320th Ave. Numerous other flooded minor roadways in eastern Lucas County. Time estimated from radar, delayed report.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindRussell$20,000no account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindRussell$10,000Corn was bent over by the high winds.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindRussell$10,000An awning of a camper was torn off, some siding from a house was also removed. Power reported out.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindRussell$10,000Power lines were reported down across the road and a car blown into the ditch on U.S. Highway 34.
March 2010FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
July 2010FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
April 2009FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
May 2009FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
July 2009FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
June 2008FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
June 2008FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
July 2008FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
July 2008FloodRussell$10,000no account filed
October 2001HailRussell$10,000no account filed
October 2001Thunderstorm WindRussell$10,000no account filed
October 2001HailRussell$10,000no account filed
July 2015Thunderstorm WindRussell$5,000Three to four inch tree limbs down and 5 gallon buckets blown around.
May 2010FloodRussell$5,000no account filed
June 2009FloodRussell$5,000no account filed
December 2008FloodRussell$5,000no account filed
September 2008FloodRussell$5,000no account filed
July 2008HailRussell$3,000Quarter size hail reported. This was the 3rd storm that hailed at this location with the previous dropping hail nickel size or less.
October 2001HailRussell$3,000no account filed
May 2002HailRussell$2,000no account filed
October 2024Thunderstorm WindRussell-Peak gust of 62 mph from a personal weather station.
June 2021Heavy RainRussell-Coop observer reported 4.70 inches of rain in 24 hours.
July 2021Heavy RainRussell-A 24 hour rain total of 4.10 inches.
May 2020Heavy RainRussell-CoCoRaHs report of 2 inches of rain. Beginning and end time roughly estimated from radar.
June 2019HailRussell-Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail.
August 2018Heavy RainRussell-Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 2.02 inches over the last 24 hours.
September 2015Heavy RainRussell-Mesonet recorded heavy rainfall of 2.38 inches storm total.
May 2014Funnel CloudRussell-no account filed
June 2011FloodRussell-no account filed
December 2009FloodRussell-no account filed
August 2009FloodRussell-no account filed
October 2009FloodRussell-no account filed
October 2009FloodRussell-no account filed
August 2008FloodRussell-no account filed
May 2008FloodRussell-no account filed
May 2008FloodRussell-no account filed
May 2008FloodRussell-no account filed
November 2008FloodRussell-no account filed
October 2001HailRussell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lucas 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
Zero3.8 miles11
Chariton6.1 miles11
Olmitz7.1 miles10
Williamson7.9 miles11
Indianola Junction9.3 miles11
Tipperary9.4 miles10
Whitebreast9.6 miles11
Belinda10.8 miles10

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 RussellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1925704The 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 460861. 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.