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Wales, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Lincoln Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51533. The Survey maps it on the Wales quadrangle.

Wales within Montgomery County

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

2 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Wales between 2009 and 2014, burning about 7 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 burning1
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
18 April 2014Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 November 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Montgomery 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 Wales: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Montgomery County

Storms near this place

24 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wales in 24 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 11 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 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
August 1999Flash FloodWales$100,000Heavy rain caused flash flooding of many streets and county roads in Montgomery county. Among the damage reported was a retaining wall collapsing from high water just west of Wales. An unofficial 14.5 inches of rain was measured in 2 separate 5 gallon straight sided buckets by a farmer near Wales.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindWales-Personal weather station measured wind gust of 64 mph.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindWales-Personal weather station measured wind gust of 58 mph. The wind damage occurred on the north side of a small thunderstorm complex moving through the area, where evaporative cooling of anvil precipitation likely bolstered downdraft strength.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindWales-A 69 miles per hour wind gust was measured by a personal weather station.
May 2024Tornado (EF0)Wales-This brief spin-up tornado damaged outbuildings at a farmstead and numerous trees in far northwestern Montgomery County. The peak winds in this tornado were estimated to be at 74 miles per hour. The peak track width and average track width for this tornado were both 60 yards.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindWales-A personal weather station recorded a wind gust of 70 mph.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindWales-A 59 miles per hour wind gust was measured on a personal weather station.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindWales-Emergency management reported estimated wind gusts of 70 mph.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindWales-Trained spotter estimated winds were near 60 mph.
April 2018HailWales-Two inch diameter hail was reported north of Wales.
September 2018HailWales-Very strong winds were also reported, but a wind speed estimate was not given.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindWales-Tree and tree limbs were blown down by 50 to 60 mph winds.
May 2018Heavy RainWales-A total of 2.15 inches of rain fell 1 mile east of Wales.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindWales-A telephone pole was downed 4 miles east of Glenwood along highway 320.
April 2009HailWales-Hail up to 1 inch in diameter covered the ground.
May 2000HailWales-Reported by the public.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindWales-Large tree limbs downed.
May 2018HailWales-no account filed
May 2015HailWales-no account filed
June 2008HailWales-no account filed
September 2001HailWales-no account filed
September 1999HailWales-no account filed
September 1999HailWales-no account filed
September 1996HailWales-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Montgomery 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
Stennett7.3 miles9
McPherson7.3 miles9
Hawthorne8.0 miles9
Elliott8.9 miles9
Red Oak9.2 miles9
Frankfort (historical)11.8 miles9
Biddick (historical)13.4 miles9
Coburg14.2 miles8

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 465957. 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.