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.
Population over time
2 figuresWashta 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 248 | |
| 2020 | 209 | -39 (-16%) |
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
- 1969 USGS Washta quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Storm Lake quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
23 since 2006Regional 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/undetermined | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 May 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 May 2014 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 April 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 80 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 29 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | STORY AVE & D15, IOWA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 17 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backhaus Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Boothby Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Buck Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Correctionville | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Maudlin Const Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Peterson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Peterson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Quimby | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
33 since 1996Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2019 | Flood | Washta | $3,390,000 | Flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges. |
| June 2024 | Flood | Washta | $1,020,000 | Rainfall 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 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washta | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washta | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including up to four inch diameter trees blown down. Minor damage to homes also occurred. |
| October 2013 | Tornado (EF1) | Washta | $10,000 | A tornado, crossing into Chrerokee County from Woodbury County, damaged power poles, power lines, and trees. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washta | - | Thunderstorm winds downed a 10 inch diameter tree limb, with additional damage to corn fields. |
| June 2021 | Hail | Washta | - | 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 2019 | Flood | Washta | - | 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 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washta | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down. |
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | Washta | - | Heavy rainfall of 5 inches caused flooding of roads, culverts, and fields. |
| July 2010 | Heavy Rain | Washta | - | Two inches of rain fell in 45 minutes. |
| September 2005 | Hail | Washta | - | Large hail stripped leaves off trees. |
| July 2003 | Flash Flood | Washta | - | Heavy rains caused a small creek to overflow its banks, flooding a cornfield. |
| October 2019 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| September 2010 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Washta | - | no account filed |
| November 2008 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washta | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washta | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washta | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Washta | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Washta | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q964321 | The 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.




