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West Le Mars, Iowa

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Washington Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51031. The Survey maps it on the Le Mars quadrangle.

West Le Mars within Plymouth County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 10 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 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of West Le Mars between 2006 and 2011, burning about 6 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/undetermined2

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
2 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources180TH ST., IA
11 February 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Plymouth County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 20 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of West Le Mars: 16 past producers, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General. 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
UnknownLimestone, GeneralPast Producer
H A LudwigSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hogan Const CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
HossSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Howes PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
L and M Sand and Gravel Site No 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Leeds PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Maudlin Const CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Maudlin Const CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Midwest PavingSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Plymouth County

Storms near this place

7 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Le Mars in 7 storm reports between 2010 and 2024: 4 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. 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
June 2010Thunderstorm WindWest Le Mars$5,000Thunderstorm winds blew down power poles and caused tree damage.
April 2024Tornado (EFU)West Le Mars-Members of the public witnessed a very brief touchdown in an open field. The storm produced no visible damage as to determine a rating. The touchdown location is an estimate based on public videos and radar.
June 2024FloodWest Le Mars-The Floyd River near Merrill rose above flood stage the evening of June 22nd, cresting around 8.27 feet above flood stage (20.27 feet) on June 23rd. This crest is in the Major Stage and broke the previous record. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of June 24th. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Plymouth County.
March 2019FloodWest Le Mars-Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 1.52 inches near Le Mars and 1.63 inches at Remsen) resulted in significant flooding of agricultural lands. State Highway 60 was closed for several days between Merrill and Hinton due to water over the roadway. The Floyd River at Merrill (gage site MRLI4) reached the fourth highest stage on record cresting 5.60 feet above flood stage on March 15.
June 2018FloodWest Le Mars-A week of periodic heavy rainfall ending June 26 resulted in a widespread 4 to 8 inches of rainfall, much of which occurred on June 20 and 24. Weekly rainfall totaled 9.11 inches near Sioux Center, 7.36 inches at Sheldon, 7.31 inches at Sibley, 6.13 inches at Sanborn, 5.50 inches at Orange City, 4.69 inches at Le Mars and 4.54 inches at Remsen. Major flooding occurred with significant amounts of crop and pasture land inundated. Water encroached on the homes on the east side of Merrill, and covered county highway C44 as the Floyd River at Merrill (gage site MRLI4) crested 4.1 feet above flood stage on June 27. The river dropped below flood stage on June 28.
September 2018FloodWest Le Mars-Widespread rainfall upstream in the Floyd River basin from September 18-20 totaled generally 5 to 10 inches, with 2 to 5 inches across Plymouth County, resulting in major flooding. County road C44 was inundated with water, which also impacted a few properties on the east edge of Merrill. The Floyd River at Merrill (gage site MRLI4) crested at 5.0 feet above flood stage on September 21.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindWest Le Mars-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Plymouth 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
Parkview Terrace2.0 miles10
Brunsville2.6 miles9
Le Mars3.2 miles10
Plymouth (historical)4.3 miles10
Merrill5.2 miles10
Mammen5.3 miles9
Crathorne5.7 miles9
Seney6.5 miles10

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.

Wikidata item Q122597842The 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 464798. 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.