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Lowell, Idaho

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1924 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Elk City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 83539. It stands on Lochsa River. The Survey maps it on the Lowell quadrangle. It stands 1,486 feet above sea level.

Lowell within Idaho County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 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

98 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 98 fires within 5 miles of Lowell between 1992 and 2019, burning about 16,608 acres in total. 74 started naturally. 1 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
Natural74
Recreation and ceremony14
Equipment and vehicle use4
Debris and open burning2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
9 September 2012Naturalunder an acreNez Perce - Clearwater National ForestsIDAHO POINT
7 September 1998Natural1.5 acresNez Perce - Clearwater National ForestsHOT ELK
7 September 1998Naturalunder an acreNez Perce - Clearwater National ForestsNORTH
7 September 1998Naturalunder an acreNez Perce - Clearwater National ForestsRATTY
4 September 1992Naturalunder an acreNez Perce - Clearwater National Forestsnot named
24 September 2005Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNez Perce - Clearwater National ForestsMIDDLE FORK SLASH
2 September 1996Naturalunder an acreNez Perce - Clearwater National ForestsBIG HILL
18 September 2007Naturalunder an acreNez Perce - Clearwater National ForestsRYE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Idaho County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Lowell: 2 occurrences, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Titanium, Zirconium, REE, Nickel, Antimony. 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
Coolwater Nickel DepositNickelOccurrence
Pete King Creek PlacerTitanium, Zirconium, REEOccurrence
Shangra La AntimonyAntimonyProspect

Every working recorded in Idaho County

Storms near this place

19 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lowell in 19 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 9 heavy rain, 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. 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
March 2017Heavy RainLowell$50,000Several locations along US-12 experienced flooding, mud and debris on the road which caused it to close for 10 hours. Three inches of rain with snow-melt occurred a week before this event contributing to saturated soils. A nearby sensor in Lowell recorded 1.23 inches of rainfall 24 hours leading up to the flooding. Multiple culvert washouts and other mudslides were reported through March 24 along the following roads: Cedar Creek, Big Cedar and Cove. Idaho County declared a state of emergency because of all the issues.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindLowell$5,000A witness described multiple living, mature Douglas Fir and Grand Fir trees snapped in half. After reviewing the radar data, it appears a microburst occurred. After the thunderstorm pulsed up over the headwaters of the American River basin, north of Elk City, it then dropped over the Selway River between Selway Falls and Glover Campground. For these healthy trees to be snapped in half, the wind speeds could have exceeded 70 mph. It was reported that some of the trees were positioned towards the west-southwest direction.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindLowell$1,000A thunderstorm in its decaying stage unleashed strong gusty winds that blew over a 24 inch diameter tree onto a camper at the Wilderness Gateway Campground on the Lochsa River.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindLowell$1,000The spotter at the Three Rivers resort reported multiple tree downed by strong wind.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindLowell-The Montana Department of Highways reported that multiple large trees were down, and crossed the road along US Highway-12, near Lolo Pass. Inbound velocities on radar reached 60 mph.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindLowell-A tree was downed on US Highway 12 near mile post 143.
February 2016Heavy RainLowell-Fenn Ranger Station RAWS reported 2.21 inches of rain over the 7 days preceding the event. The greatest 1 day rainfall was Feb 15, when 0.81 inches fell.
October 2012Heavy RainLowell-The Lowell ASOS measured 0.42 inch of rain in an hour.
October 2012Heavy RainLowell-Heavy rain was measured 4 miles southeast of Lowell when 0.57 inch fell in an hour.
October 2011Heavy RainLowell-Observer at Powell reported a 24 hour rainfall total of 1.19 inches.
October 2011Heavy RainLowell-Observer at Lowell reported a 24 hours rainfall total of 1.18 inches.
October 2011Heavy RainLowell-The equipment at Savage Pass reported 1.40 inches of rainfall in 24 hours.
October 2011Heavy RainLowell-A spotter in Lowell reported 0.85 inches of rainfall.
August 2010HailLowell-A US Forest Service trail crew reported hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindLowell-Severe thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree on to a cabin at Three Rivers Resort in Lowell. Very heavy rain was blowing sideways.
June 2009Heavy RainLowell-Heavy rain produced rock and debris slides onto Highway 12 near Lowell. An estimated 600 pound rock rolled onto Highway 12 west of Lowell.
July 2001HailLowell-no account filed
July 1998HailLowell-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindLowell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Idaho 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
Syringa7.0 miles10
Tahoe11.7 miles12
Clark Tree12.2 miles10
Big Cedar12.4 miles12
Glenwood14.3 miles9
Newsome16.4 miles13
York17.3 miles10
Clearwater17.8 miles9

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 LowellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q14687205The 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 396823. 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.