Almena, Kansas
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Almena-District 4 Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67622. It stands on Horse Creek. The Survey maps it on the Almena quadrangle. 363 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,152 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAlmena fell from 408 to 363 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 | 408 | |
| 2020 | 363 | -45 (-11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 13 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.
- 1893 USGS Norton quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Beloit quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Beloit quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1967 USGS Almena quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Norton quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
5 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Almena between 2015 and 2017, burning about 1 acre in total. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Smoking | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 March 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Norton County | 1700006 |
| 19 February 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Norton County | 1700005 |
| 15 February 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Norton County | 1700004 |
| 24 January 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 2 |
| 22 January 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 1 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 65 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Almena in 65 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 37 hail, 24 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2023 | Hail | Almena | 1 hurt, $15,000 | The hail caused damage to a camper, siding, and broke several windows in vehicles and the house. One person was hit in the head by the hail and had a laceration. |
| June 2011 | Tornado (EF3) | Almena | $10,000,000 | A strong tornado developed just northeast of Almena and traveled roughly along Highway 383 to the Phillips county line near roads E and 14. (The tornado continued northeast for several miles into Phillips county before dissipating). One residence was completely destroyed, but a mother and her four children amazingly escaped without injury after seeking shelter in the basement. Many other farmsteads suffered significant damage to the residence itself, as well as to outbuildings, irrigation pivots, farm machinery and livestock. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | $2,000,000 | Many 2-3 ft. diameter trees were snapped off across town. One pine tree was also uprooted. Three or four houses in town had trees blown on them. One or two vehicles smashed under fallen trees. Part of a roof was torn off one house. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | $50,000 | Mature tree trunks snapped and many large tree limbs broken by the thunderstorm winds. An enclosed small trailer that was loaded was pushed around the corner of a shed, a wooden privacy fence was blown over, a couple electric poles were blown down. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | $10,000 | Tree branches 3-4 inches in diameter were broken. A grain bin was damaged and a wall from an old wooden barn was blown down. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | $5,000 | Mobile home moved four feet...ripped out tie downs. Some hay bales were rolled and calving pens flipped. Damage occurred approximately 2 miles south of Hwy 36 at Road E9. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | $2,500 | Roof/joist damage to a pole (horse) barn approximately 1.5 miles north of Hwy 36 at Road E9. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | $2,000 | Power lines down in the Almena area, reported by sheriff dispatch. Time of event estimated from Doppler radar. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Almena | - | The public relayed golf ball size hail. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | An Ambient Weather site named Thompson reported the wind gust. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Almena | - | Spotter estimated quarter sized hail ongoing at time of the report. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Social media report of winds around 60 mph or greater in the town of Almena. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Almena | - | Report received via social media of marble to quarter sized hail at location. Time is radar estimated. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Almena | - | Report received via social media of hail up to pennies in size at location. Time is radar estimated. |
| August 2023 | Hail | Almena | - | Quarter sized hail lasted a duration of 5 minutes over the location. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Report received via social media of an estimated 60 to 70 mph thunderstorm wind gust at location with storm passage. Time is radar estimated. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Almena | - | The hail also occurred with 50-60 MPH winds. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Estimating 50-60 MPH wind gusts. These gusts caused the rain to fall sideways briefly, and were accompanied with nickel size hail. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Estimated wind gust at this location. |
| August 2023 | Hail | Almena | - | The hail also occurred with damaging winds. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts blew/bent road block signs to the northeast. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Reported via Weather Underground, mesonet station KKSALMEN2 measured a 58 mph wind gust. |
| August 2021 | Hail | Almena | - | Pea to penny sized hail reported. |
| July 2016 | Hail | Almena | - | The hail sizes ranged from pea to half dollar. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | The winds flipped a piece of farm equipment over. |
| September 2015 | Hail | Almena | - | Hail up to ping-pong ball size has fallen. Information passed through a spotter. |
| September 2015 | Hail | Almena | - | Baseball size hail lasted for about 5 minutes before decreasing to nickel size at the time of the call. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Estimated time of report from radar. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Almena | - | Storm report was relayed via social media. |
| November 2015 | Tornado (EF0) | Almena | - | The tornado developed northeast of Norton and moved almost due north across the rest of the county. No damage was reported from this tornado, however fence posts and a windmill that were in the path of the tornado were all leaning at a 45 degree angle. The tornado crossed into Furnas county Nebraska east of the RD 702 and DR 432 intersection. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Almena | - | Nickel size hail started covering the ground, then the size of the hail dropped to dime size with heavy rain developing. |
| June 2011 | Tornado (EF0) | Almena | - | Dusty tornado reported southeast of Almena. No known damage. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | A wind gust of 72 mph was measured by KSN's weather network. |
| May 2008 | Hail | Almena | - | Spotter also estimated winds around 55 mph. |
| April 2005 | Flash Flood | Almena | - | County roads washed out. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Almena | - | Broken car windshield on highway 383 about 1 mile from Phillips county line. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Power lines down with live wires on road. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Metal roof blown off building into the side of a house. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | Nothern Valley High School |
| July 2023 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| September 2015 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| November 2015 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| October 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| September 2010 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Almena | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Almena | - | 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.
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 Almena | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q590691 | 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 471748. 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.
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.




