Vandalia, Iowa
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1930 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Des Moines Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50237. The Survey maps it on the Runnells quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 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.
- 1930 USGS Mitchellville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Runnells quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
19 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Vandalia between 1992 and 2018, burning about 143 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 4 were 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 | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.6 acres | Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge | AMANDA FIRE |
| 18 May 2017 | Natural | under an acre | Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge | BALE FIRE |
| 9 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 April 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge | 102/119 |
| 22 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 13 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 March 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge | CONSERV1 |
| 26 March 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge | DOGLEGBRIDGE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Vandalia: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Flagstone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Stevens Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vandalia in 8 storm reports between 2013 and 2024: 5 heavy rain, 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2022 | Tornado (EF2) | Vandalia | $50,000,000 | The tornado moved into Jasper county from Polk county. The tornado remained largely in rural areas for much of its path across Jasper county. Despite its rural venture, the tornado impacted several residences in western Jasper county producing several areas of EF2 damage. The tornado did pass not far from the southeast side of Colfax damaging structures near the intersection of Highway 117 and S 44th Avenue West. The tornado crossed Interstate 80 east of Colfax near mile marker 160 and then proceeded towards Newton, grazing both the communities of Lambs Grove and Newton on the north sides. Most of the damage was to trees and minor damage to structures including loss of shingles and broken windows. The tornado did remove about a 100 foot segment of the roof of the former TPI Composites Plant northeast of Newton with the tornado dissipating shortly thereafter. In all, the tornado had a path length of just over 70 miles and passed through four counties including Madison, Warren, Polk and Jasper. The six deaths were the most by a tornado in Iowa since the Parkersburg tornado in May of 2008. The damage was into the hundreds of millions of dollars. |
| August 2013 | Hail | Vandalia | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Vandalia | $2,000 | Estimated wind gusts by the public. Tree limb damage reported. |
| July 2024 | Heavy Rain | Vandalia | - | Report of 4.43 inches of rain. |
| November 2022 | Heavy Rain | Vandalia | - | A 24 hour rain total of 3.40 inches. |
| November 2022 | Heavy Rain | Vandalia | - | A 24 hour rain total of 2.63 inches. |
| August 2019 | Heavy Rain | Vandalia | - | Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 2.49 inches. Beginning time estimated from radar. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | Vandalia | - | Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 2.27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairiebell | 5.2 miles | 11 | |
| Prairie City | 5.6 miles | 8 | |
| Severs | 9.2 miles | 8 | |
| Colfax | 10.1 miles | 8 | |
| Oswalt | 10.8 miles | 11 | |
| Monroe | 10.9 miles | 9 | |
| Metz | 12.6 miles | 8 | |
| Valeria | 13.2 miles | 11 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 462542. 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.






