Tara, Iowa
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Douglas Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50501. The Survey maps it on the Clare quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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 Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Clare quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Humboldt quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
7 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Tara between 2009 and 2020, burning about 26 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 | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 14 August 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 1345 190TH ST., IA |
| 17 April 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 12 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 28 March 2012 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 October 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Tara: 7 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Dodge Mine | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Croft Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gilpin Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gilpin Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gilpin Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lohr Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Mccalley Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Peterson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Spilka Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
12 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tara in 12 storm reports between 2007 and 2019: 5 heavy rain, 2 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud. 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 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tara | $50,000 | Two grain bins were destroyed. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Tara | $50,000 | Blacktop county road P41 was reported as washed out 2 miles north of Highway 7 around 0200CST. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Tara | $5,000 | Heavy rain caused street flooding in the city. Several roads were closed by the high water. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tara | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Tara | - | Public reported a funnel cloud. |
| August 2018 | Heavy Rain | Tara | - | CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 5.72 inches over the last 48 hours. |
| August 2018 | Heavy Rain | Tara | - | CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 5.11 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| August 2018 | Heavy Rain | Tara | - | CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.43 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| June 2017 | Funnel Cloud | Tara | - | Trained spotter reported a funnel cloud. |
| March 2017 | Hail | Tara | - | Trained spotter reported golf ball sized hail between Fort Dodge and Barnum. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | Tara | - | Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 2.83 inches. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | Tara | - | Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 2.68 inches. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnum | 3.7 miles | 9 | |
| Moorland | 4.0 miles | 8 | |
| West Fort Dodge (historical) | 4.7 miles | 11 | |
| Wadleigh | 6.0 miles | 8 | |
| Clare | 6.6 miles | 9 | |
| Fort Dodge | 6.8 miles | 11 | |
| Roelyn | 6.8 miles | 8 | |
| Shady Oak | 7.8 miles | 11 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 464772. 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.




