Waucoma, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Eden Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52171. The Survey maps it on the Waucoma quadrangle. 229 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,043 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWaucoma fell from 257 to 229 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 | 257 | |
| 2020 | 229 | -28 (-11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 7 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 Mason City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Mason City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Mason City quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Waucoma quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Charles City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
2 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Waucoma between 2010 and 2017, burning about 5 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 burning | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 March 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 1247 315TH AVE, FORT ATKINSON, IOWA |
| 22 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 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 Waucoma: 6 past producers, 3 producers, 1 unknown. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Reisner Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Brockway Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Love Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Miller Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| St Lucas Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Waucoma Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
23 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waucoma in 23 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 9 hail, 6 flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2017 | Flood | Waucoma | $1,080,000 | After the initial flash flooding, the flood waters lingered across much of Fayette County into Sunday, July 23rd. On Saturday morning, numerous roads were reported to be impassable in Fairbank because of the flood waters. Sandbagging was occurring around several businesses. State Highway 3 was closed between Oelwein and Oran. In the town of Fayette, around 80 percent of the homes had water in their basements and a park in town was closed because of the flooding. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Waucoma | $1,000,000 | After heavy rains dropped 4 to 8 inches of rain, flash flooding occurred across the southern sections of Fayette County. East of Wadena, the bridge over the Volga River on Acorn Road failed. Otter Creek went out if its banks in Oelwein. |
| August 2016 | Flood | Waucoma | $50,000 | Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Little Turkey River out of its banks in Waucoma. The flood waters damaged the town's wastewater treatment facility. |
| August 2021 | Flood | Waucoma | $20,000 | Flood waters from the Little Turkey River prompted officials to evacuate half of Waucoma. The flood waters caused minor damage to some buildings. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waucoma | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Flood | Waucoma | $10,000 | The driver of a vehicle was able to escape before it sank after attempting to drive through flood waters from a local creek in Waucoma. |
| May 2000 | Hail | Waucoma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Waucoma | $3,500 | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waucoma | $2,000 | Trees were blown down in Waucoma. |
| March 2010 | Flood | Waucoma | $2,000 | Minor flooding of low lying areas, as well as along small streams and creeks, was reported across portions of Fayette county from the evening of March 10th through early morning on March 13th. Also, some secondary roads were reported to have been underwater or have minor damage due to running water. |
| September 2025 | Hail | Waucoma | - | The public reported 1 mile south of Waucoma. The report was relayed by media via NWS Chat. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waucoma | - | Trees reported down in northwestern Fayette County. The time was estimated by radar. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waucoma | - | A private weather station measured a 67 mph wind gust in Waucoma. |
| August 2018 | Hail | Waucoma | - | Golf ball sized hail fell just east of Waucoma. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waucoma | - | An estimated 58 mph wind gust occurred in Waucoma. |
| September 2016 | Heavy Rain | Waucoma | - | In Waucoma, 3.91 inches of rain fell. |
| June 2014 | Flood | Waucoma | - | Heavy rain caused officials in Fayette County to close 21 roads across the county. Most of these were gravel roads that were water covered. In addition, all county parks were closed. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Waucoma | - | no account filed |
| March 2011 | Hail | Waucoma | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Waucoma | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Waucoma | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Waucoma | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Funnel Cloud | Waucoma | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | 4.2 miles | 9 | |
| Saint Lucas | 5.3 miles | 11 | |
| Richfield | 7.5 miles | 9 | |
| Douglass | 9.2 miles | 11 | |
| Hawkeye | 9.2 miles | 12 | |
| Eldorado | 10.5 miles | 11 | |
| West Union | 13.6 miles | 12 | |
| Donnan | 13.8 miles | 12 |
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 Waucoma | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q972636 | 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 462749. 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.




