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West Des Moines, Iowa

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Walnut Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50265. It stands on Jordan Creek. The Survey maps it on the Des Moines SW quadrangle. 68,723 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 955 feet above sea level.

West Des Moines within Polk County

On record in West Des Moines

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 6 records

Population over time

2 figures

West Des Moines grew from 56,609 to 68,723 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
201056,609
202068,723+12,114 (+21%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 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

4 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of West Des Moines between 2006 and 2011, 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4

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
4 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 April 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resources129 COTTAGE LANE,LAKE PONDEROSA, IA
24 November 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
13 January 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Polk County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of West Des Moines: 5 producers, 3 past producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
Marquette Cement PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Penn-Dixie Cement PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
West Des Moines Plant #8Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Commerce Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
I-35 and Army Post Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
West Des Moines Sand PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Polk County

Storms near this place

60 of 72 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Des Moines in 72 storm reports between 1994 and 2022: 34 hail, 24 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 3 heavy rain. The reports record 2 injuries. 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
September 2001Tornado (F1)West Des Moines1 hurt, $500,000Tornado touched down on southwest edge of West Des Moines at the Glen Oaks Golf Club and swept into an apartment complex. Track was intermittent following the destruction of a garage unit there.
August 2004LightningWest Des Moines1 hurtno account filed
June 2001HailWest Des Moines$9,500,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$2,000,000no account filed
June 2001HailWest Des Moines$250,000no account filed
June 2001HailWest Des Moines$200,000no account filed
June 2018Flash FloodWest Des Moines$100,000Public reported that 63rd and Grand near West Des Moines was underwater. Water rescues were performed at this location as well.
April 2012Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$100,000Most of the roof torn away on a commercial building.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$100,000no account filed
August 2010Flash FloodWest Des Moines$75,000Public Works Department in Des Moines and West Des Moines reports water over the road at Grand and 61st.
May 2014HailWest Des Moines$75,000no account filed
May 2004Flash FloodWest Des Moines$75,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$75,000no account filed
May 2007FloodWest Des Moines$50,000no account filed
May 2004Flash FloodWest Des Moines$50,000no account filed
April 2001HailWest Des Moines$50,000no account filed
June 2001HailWest Des Moines$50,000no account filed
April 1994HailWest Des Moines$50,000no account filed
May 2007FloodWest Des Moines$25,000no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$25,000no account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$20,000no account filed
April 2004LightningWest Des Moines$15,000no account filed
March 2007HailWest Des Moines$10,000no account filed
May 2004HailWest Des Moines$10,000no account filed
May 2004HailWest Des Moines$10,000no account filed
May 2004HailWest Des Moines$10,000no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$10,000no account filed
September 2001Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$10,000no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$10,000no account filed
May 2014HailWest Des Moines$5,000Located at the southeast corner of 63rd and Grand.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$5,000Power poles down along with small tree limbs.
March 2007HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
March 2007HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
June 2007Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
May 2004HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
May 2004HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
May 2004HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
April 2003HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
April 2003HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
May 2003HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
June 1998HailWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$5,000no account filed
April 2006Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$3,000no account filed
May 2001HailWest Des Moines$3,000no account filed
April 2006HailWest Des Moines$2,000no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$2,000no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$2,000no account filed
June 2004Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$2,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$2,000no account filed
July 1995HailWest Des Moines$2,000no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines$1,000no account filed
July 1997HailWest Des Moines$1,000no account filed
April 2022HailWest Des Moines-A Mercy Hospital ambulance reported penny to nickel sized hail.
August 2022HailWest Des Moines-Delayed report of egg sized hail in West Des Moines. Time estimated by radar.
June 2021HailWest Des Moines-Report via mping of penny sized hail.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines-Spotter reported wind gusts between 612 pm and 625 pm, estimated between 60 and 70 pm. Also reported large branches down, but exact size unknown.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines-Public report of damage on Grand between 8th st and 4th st including large trees down, power lines down, and traffic signal blown down.
July 2020HailWest Des Moines-A trained spotter reported penny sized hail.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines-Public report via social media of a tree down in the road. Time estimated via radar.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Des Moines-Broadcast media relayed report of a large tree down near 63rd street and Railroad Avenue that also brought down a power line with it. Time estimated via radar.

Every storm recorded in Polk 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
Valley Junction0.6 miles16
Windsor Heights1.4 miles16
Clive1.9 miles16
Crestwood2.0 miles16
Ashawa2.4 miles11
Millman3.1 miles16
Urbandale3.4 miles17
Commerce3.9 miles11

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 West Des MoinesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q923861The 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 462839. 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.