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Washta, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Willow Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51061. It stands on Stratton Creek. The Survey maps it on the Washta quadrangle. 209 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,148 feet above sea level.

Washta within Cherokee County

Population over time

2 figures

Washta fell from 248 to 209 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
2010248
2020209-39 (-16%)

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

23 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 23 fires within 5 miles of Washta between 2006 and 2020, burning about 380 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/undetermined11
Debris and open burning9
Equipment and vehicle use2
Smoking1

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
20 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 May 2014Debris and open burning6.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2020Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined65 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 April 2020Debris and open burning30 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 April 2020Debris and open burning80 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 April 2020Debris and open burning29 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.5 acresIowa Department of Natural ResourcesSTORY AVE & D15, IOWA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cherokee County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 17 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 17 workings within 5 miles of Washta: 13 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
Backhaus PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Boothby PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Buck PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
CorrectionvilleSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Maudlin Const CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Peterson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Peterson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
QuimbySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Cherokee County

Storms near this place

33 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Washta in 33 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 18 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 2 flash flood. 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
March 2019FloodWashta$3,390,000Flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges.
June 2024FloodWashta$1,020,000Rainfall amounts across Cherokee County from June 20-22 ranged from around a quarter of an inch across southern areas to around 2 inches across northern areas. Farther north and upstream, 5 to 10 inches of rain fell across portions of northwest Iowa. This rainfall resulted in moderate to record flooding along the Little Sioux River and Mill Creek and overland flooding along the adjoining flood plain.||The majority of flood damage occurred in or around the city of Cherokee. A total of 140 residences were impacted by flood water. Of those, 45 received major damage while 22 were completely destroyed. There were also 10 businesses that received major damage or were destroyed. Spring Lake Park was severely damaged, including a washed out road, washed out campgrounds, and a flooded yacht club. At one point, 8 bridges around Cherokee were closed and other county roads and bridges were temporarily closed. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure to be 1.02 million dollars.||For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for Cherokee County.
September 1997Thunderstorm WindWashta$50,000no account filed
June 2003Thunderstorm WindWashta$20,000Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including up to four inch diameter trees blown down. Minor damage to homes also occurred.
October 2013Tornado (EF1)Washta$10,000A tornado, crossing into Chrerokee County from Woodbury County, damaged power poles, power lines, and trees.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindWashta-Thunderstorm winds downed a 10 inch diameter tree limb, with additional damage to corn fields.
June 2021HailWashta-A continuation of the wind-driven hail path from Plymouth County, extensive to total crop damage was noted across the southwest corner of Cherokee County. The path was determined from Sentinel satellite data and ground survey. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
June 2019FloodWashta-During crop planting season, prolonged flooding led to the loss of or inability to plant crops across the area. Crop loss estimates provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindWashta-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down.
July 2010Flash FloodWashta-Heavy rainfall of 5 inches caused flooding of roads, culverts, and fields.
July 2010Heavy RainWashta-Two inches of rain fell in 45 minutes.
September 2005HailWashta-Large hail stripped leaves off trees.
July 2003Flash FloodWashta-Heavy rains caused a small creek to overflow its banks, flooding a cornfield.
October 2019HailWashta-no account filed
April 2016HailWashta-no account filed
September 2010HailWashta-no account filed
June 2010Funnel CloudWashta-no account filed
November 2008HailWashta-no account filed
August 2007HailWashta-no account filed
May 2004HailWashta-no account filed
May 2004HailWashta-no account filed
May 2004HailWashta-no account filed
July 2004HailWashta-no account filed
July 2004HailWashta-no account filed
June 2004HailWashta-no account filed
July 2003HailWashta-no account filed
April 2001HailWashta-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindWashta-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindWashta-no account filed
May 1999HailWashta-no account filed
May 1999HailWashta-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindWashta-no account filed
June 1996HailWashta-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cherokee 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
Quimby5.5 miles9
Fielding7.5 miles9
Mary Hill11.1 miles9
Onawa Junction13.3 miles9
Cherokee14.9 miles9
Meriden15.8 miles9
Cleghorn16.3 miles9
Aurelia17.6 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 WashtaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q964321The 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 462723. 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.