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Arco, Idaho

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Arco census division. It lies in ZIP code area 83213. It stands on Spring Creek. The Survey maps it on the Arco North quadrangle. 879 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,325 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Arco within Butte County

On record in Arco

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Arco fell from 995 to 879 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
2010995
2020879-116 (-12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 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

40 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 40 fires within 5 miles of Arco between 1995 and 2019, burning about 251 acres in total. 4 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
Fireworks28
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Natural4
Equipment and vehicle use2
Other causes1

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
24 September 2001Other causes1.3 acresIdaho Falls DistrictCELLER
3 August 1999Naturalunder an acreIdaho Falls DistrictLOST RIVER
27 August 1995Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSalmon-Challis National ForestARCO
26 August 2010Equipment and vehicle use20 acresIdaho Falls DistrictARCO
13 August 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.6 acresIdaho Falls DistrictMUNSEY
4 July 2019Fireworksunder an acreIdaho Falls DistrictARCO HILL
4 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIdaho Falls DistrictNUMBERS
4 July 2017Fireworksunder an acreIdaho Falls DistrictARCO

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Butte County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Arco: 1 prospect, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Magnesite, Gold. 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
ChampagneGoldPlant1989
Fish Haven DolomiteMagnesiteProspect

Every working recorded in Butte County

Storms near this place

60 of 137 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Arco in 137 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 115 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 4 funnel cloud, 3 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
July 1998Flash FloodArco$20,000BLM reported road washed out on Big Southern Butte by 1 to 2 inches of rain from a thunderstorm. BLM estimated the storm caused a 50 year flood on the butte.
June 2025LightningArco$7,000A telephone pole was hit by lightning and caught on fire.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindArco$4,000The Arco mesonet site measured 63 mph wind gusts from a thunderstorms. Several trees were blown over in the city of Arco and the wind destroyed a large plate glass window in a flower shop.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindArco$3,000Power lines were downed off of Highway Drive in the areas of US 20 which caused a fire and several power outages.
August 2011Flash FloodArco$2,000Heavy rains and small hail caused flooding in Arco. Roadways in town flooded with damage reported by law enforcement. Hail was up to 2 inches deep in some parts of town. The basement in the new court house in Arco was flooded as well.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindArco$1,000Sixty mile per hour winds moved through Butte County on the 30th with Arco recording 63 mph at 2:55 pm MDT. Several small limbs were torn off trees in the city.
August 2014Flash FloodArco$1,000COOP Observer reported 1 to 2 inches of water flowing across Highway 93 in the city of Arco. Minor residential flooding occurred with some flooding at the hospital. A city bridge on Era street washed out and the street was closed and minor flooding occurred on Highway 33.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph thunderstorm outflow wind gust measured at Tom Cat Summit ITD mesonet site.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindArco-A 59 mph thunderstorm outflow wind gust was measured at the Tom Cat Summit ITD mesonet site.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindArco-The INL Puzzle site recorded a 61 mph thunderstorm outflow wind.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-The INL Critical Infrastructure mesonet site recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-The INL Puzzle mesonet site on US highways 20 and 26 recorded a 70 mph wind gust.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 58 mph wind gust was recorded at the Craters of the Moon mesonet site.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-Mesonet station 3699 D6 INL Puzzle recorded a 60 mph wind gust.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 64 mph wind gust was recorded at Big Southern Butte.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 62 mph wind gust was recorded at the INL Central Facilities mesonet station.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 61 mph wind gust recorded at Lost River Rest Area.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 68 mph wind gust recorded at mesonet station TRA INL Reactor Tech Complex.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 64 mph wind gust recorded at mesonet station GRI INL INTEC/Grid 3.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 59 mph wind gust recorded at INL Puzzle mesonet site.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 59 mph wind gust recorded at INL Central Facilities.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 59 mph wind gust measured at the Tom Cat Summit mesonet site.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 59 mph wind gust recorded at Craters of the Moon mesonet site.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 58 mph wind gust measured at the INL Central Facilities mesonet site.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph thunderstorm outflow wind measured 9 miles east of Butte City at the Dead Man Canyon mesonet site.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-Thunderstorm winds caused power outages in parts of Butte County.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph wind gust measured at INL Puzzle ITD site.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-A 69 mph thunderstorm outflow wind gust was measured at the INL Puzzle mesonet site.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindArco-The Big Coxs Well mesonet station recorded a 59 mph thunderstorm outflow wind.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-The ITD Tom Cat Summit mesonet site recorded an 80 mph wind gust.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-ITD 95 RWIS INL Puzzle measured 59 mph wind gust at intersection of US 20 and US 26.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph wind gust measured near Arco at the ARC mesonet site.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 70 mph wind gust measured at Big Southern Butte.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 59 mph wind gust measured at the GRI INL INTEC/Grid 3 mesonet site.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 65 mph thunderstorm outflow wind measured at Craters of the Moon.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph wind gust recorded at Big Southern Butte.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-INL Puzzle site RWIS ITD95 recorded a 64 mph wind gust.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 66 mph wind gust measured at Tom Cat Summit.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 62 mph wind gust at Big Southen Butte.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-INL Specific Manufacturing Site measured a 59 mph thunderstorm outflow wind.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 64 mph thunderstorm outflow wind gust was recorded at Big Southern Butte.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 62 mph thunderstorm outflow wind gust measured at Cox's Well.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph wind gust at Big Southern Butte.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 67 mph wind gust at Big Cox's Well.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindArco-A 62 mph wind gust at TRA Reactor Technologies Complex at INL.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindArco-A 59 mph thunderstorm outflow wind measured at INL Specific Manufacturing site.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindArco-A 66 mph wind gust measured at Dead Man Canyon.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindArco-A thunderstorm outflow wind of 58 mph was measured 12 miles northwest of Atomic City at the INL Reactor Tech Complex.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindArco-Mesonet site 3699 D6 Puzzle 6 miles northwest of Atomic City recorded a 62 mph wind gust.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindArco-A 58 mph thunderstorm outflow wind gust measured at the Big Southern Butte mesonet site.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindArco-A 62 mph wind gust measured at the INL Reactor Tech complex.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindArco-A 68 mph wind gust measured at the ITD INL Puzzle site.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph wind gust 12 miles southeast of Butte City.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindArco-Lost River Area mesonet recorded 61 mph wind gust.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindArco-A 60 mph gust at INL Radioactive Waste Management site.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindArco-INL Critical Infrastructure site recorded a 64 mph gust.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindArco-A 63 mph wind gust at the INL central facilities.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindArco-A 69 mph wind gust at INL Reactor Technologies Complex.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindArco-A 64 mph wind gust at at the INL Puzzle/US Highway 20 site.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindArco-A 74 mph wind gust measured at Deadman Canyon.

Every storm recorded in Butte 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
Butte City3.5 miles9
Lost River5.2 miles9
Moore7.7 miles9
Darlington13.6 miles10
Era15.3 miles12
Martin16.3 miles12
Antelope (historical)18.3 miles12
Howe18.7 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.

Wikipedia article on ArcoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1517606The 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 396049. 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.