BlockBefore

Selma, Iowa

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1981. It stands in Village Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52588. It stands on Stump Creek. The Survey maps it on the Selma quadrangle. It stands 617 feet above sea level.

Selma within Van Buren County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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

5 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Selma between 2008 and 2019, burning about 220 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
Debris and open burning4
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
6 April 2019Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 March 2017Debris and open burning50 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 March 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined80 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 March 2017Debris and open burning60 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
16 February 2017Debris and open burning25 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Van Buren County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Selma: 6 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension, Zinc. 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
Drill HoleZincPast ProducerSphalerite
UnknownLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Gardner QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Hootman Farm QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Nupp QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Selma-Nedrow QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Van Buren County

Storms near this place

11 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Selma in 11 storm reports between 2008 and 2023: 5 flood, 3 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 2008FloodSelma$540,000no account filed
August 2010FloodSelma$500,000no account filed
April 2013Flash FloodSelma$250,000Several rounds of heavy rains resulted in flash flooding across much of Van Buren County during the afternoon of April 17.
July 2010FloodSelma$250,000no account filed
July 2010FloodSelma$250,000no account filed
May 2023HailSelma-Quarter sized hail, with very strong winds that resulted in some minor damage to the trees.
May 2016HailSelma-A trained spotter reported mostly pea sized hail with a few dime to penny sized stones.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindSelma-Winds were estimated at 50 to 60 MPH.
June 2011Flash FloodSelma-Heavy rains caused some flash flooding throughout Van Buren County during the evening of June 26.
June 2008HailSelma-Penny-sized hail fell near Selma, IA at 11:10 pm June 20.
April 2013FloodSelma-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Van Buren 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
Douds4.1 miles7
Leando4.3 miles7
Lebanon10.6 miles7
Kilbourn10.7 miles11
Birmingham10.9 miles11
Parksville (historical)12.0 miles11
Pittsburg12.1 miles11
Mount Zion12.9 miles11

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 SelmaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7448700The 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 461502. 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.