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Storm Lake, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Storm Lake City. It lies in ZIP code area 50588. The Survey maps it on the Storm Lake quadrangle. 11,269 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,421 feet above sea level.

Storm Lake within Buena Vista County

On record in Storm Lake

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Storm Lake grew from 10,600 to 11,269 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
201010,600
202011,269+669 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Storm Lake in 2009, burning about 45 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
11 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined45 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Buena Vista County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Storm Lake: 6 past producers, 4 producers. 4 still produce. 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
Bjorklund PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Clark PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Overly PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Wetherell-Borklund PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Wetherell-Oatman PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Buena Vista County

Storms near this place

42 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Storm Lake in 42 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 22 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 7 flash flood, 1 lightning. 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
August 2010Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake$500,000Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a manufacturing plant, damaged docks and boats along the lake, caused widespread tree damage including numerous large trees blown down, blew down power lines and poles, resulting in power outages, damaged or destroyed several small sheds, blew down several awnings on businesses, snapped a 4 inch by 4 inch street sign pole, and blew shingles off roofs. Numerous vehicles, homes, and businesses sustained minor damage directly from the wind, while other vehicles and homes were damaged by falling trees and tree debris, some heavily.
June 2005Flash FloodStorm Lake$200,000Heavy rainfall of around 5 inches caused widespread flooding of streets, with up to 4 feet of water covering some intersections. Numerous vehicles stalled, including a police car responding to an emergency. Numerous basements and some surface floors of buildings were flooded, with several houses having up to 6 inches of water on ground level floors. The overflow of storm sewers caused treated sewage water to drain into the lake. Nearby fields and crops were also flooded.
June 2014Flash FloodStorm Lake$100,000Heavy rain caused flash flooding of numerous streets in Storm Lake. Basements were also flooded.
March 2009Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake$30,000Thunderstorm winds blew a 6 by 20 foot roof section off Kings Pointe Lodge. The roof section damaged other parts of the roof after it blew off. Roof debris and insulation damaged a vehicle in the lodge parking lot.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake$20,000Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down. Four vehicles were damaged by falling trees or tree debris. The winds also blew down power lines, causing a power outage.
September 2004Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake$20,000Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage. The damage resulted in a power outage that lasted two and a half hours and affected over a thousand city households, about a third of the city's population.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake$10,000Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines.
July 2003Flash FloodStorm Lake$10,000Heavy rain caused flooding of roads, fields and other low areas, and small streams. The flooding washed out two bridges.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake$5,000Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including large branches and limbs blown down. At least two vehicles, a pickup truck and a restored automobile, suffered damage from tree debris.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Trees and power lines were downed in residential areas south of downtown Storm Lake.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Tree, power line, and roof damage occurred along business Highway 71. Most roof damage was to metal roofing and building soffits, with one building suffering the collapse of an unsupported cinder block wall. Several semi-trucks were tipped over. A large hardwood tree trunk was snapped off above the ground.
August 2008HailStorm Lake-Large hail dented vehicles. The amount of property damage was not known.
August 2007Flash FloodStorm Lake-Thunderstorms caused heavy rain which caused flooding of streets and yards in Storm Lake on the evening of August 4th. The flash flood was the second one in town on the same day; the first being during the morning.
August 2007Flash FloodStorm Lake-Heavy rain caused flooding of numerous streets in the town of Storm Lake.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including at least one tree blown down.
May 2007Flash FloodStorm Lake-Heavy rain caused flash flooding of roads and fields.
August 2007Flash FloodStorm Lake-Rainfall of 3 to 4 inches caused flooding of several streets in Storm Lake.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage. Tree debris blocked several roads in Storm Lake.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including numerous large trees blown down.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including a large tree blown down across a road.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including two inch diameter branches down.
August 2001LightningStorm Lake-Lightning struck three large trees.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees down.
October 2000Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including a large and healthy tree blown down.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused an unknown amount of tree damage.
July 2016HailStorm Lake-no account filed
June 2010HailStorm Lake-no account filed
June 2009Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-no account filed
August 2008HailStorm Lake-no account filed
August 2008HailStorm Lake-no account filed
May 2006HailStorm Lake-no account filed
July 2003HailStorm Lake-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-no account filed
May 1999HailStorm Lake-no account filed
May 1998HailStorm Lake-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindStorm Lake-no account filed
May 1998HailStorm Lake-no account filed
June 1998HailStorm Lake-no account filed
June 1996HailStorm Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Buena Vista 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
Casino Beach1.5 miles9
Lakeside2.4 miles9
Alta4.8 miles10
Juniata5.3 miles9
Sulphur Springs6.1 miles9
Truesdale6.2 miles9
Hanover8.8 miles9
Newell11.2 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 Storm LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q510840The 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 462017. 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.