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Altoona, Kansas

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Cedar Township. It lies in ZIP code area 66710. It stands on Little Cedar Creek. The Survey maps it on the Altoona quadrangle. 354 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 830 feet above sea level.

Altoona within Wilson County

Population over time

2 figures

Altoona fell from 414 to 354 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
2010414
2020354-60 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 23 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

5 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Altoona between 2009 and 2018, burning about 276 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/undetermined3
Smoking1
Debris and open burning1

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
8 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined275 acresKansas CountiesMARION ROAD
6 April 2018Smokingunder an acreKansas Forest Service170
18 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service2015034
10 February 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service2018004
3 January 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreKansas Forest Service2018001

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Wilson County

Storms near this place

60 of 61 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Altoona in 61 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 36 hail, 22 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy rain, 1 flood. 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
February 2000Thunderstorm WindAltoona$15,000A pole barn and some of it's contents were destroyed.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindAltoona$4,000Damage to two unspecified farm structures. (Narrative courtesy USDA Flash Situation Report.)
April 1996Thunderstorm WindAltoona$2,500no account filed
October 2008Thunderstorm WindAltoona$2,000Trees were damaged between 1700 and 1800 Road near Anderson Road.
May 2019FloodAltoona$100Received a total of 2.75 inches of rain. Flooding of low lying areas was reported.
April 1994Thunderstorm WindAltoona$50Quarter-size hail also fell.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindAltoona-An estimated 75 mph winds was reported.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindAltoona-A trained spotter estimated wind gusts to 70 mph southeast of Altoona.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Emergency manager said that columns were moved on a porch and small limbs were down at a property west of Altoona.
October 2024HailAltoona-Nickel sized hail was reported by a storm chaser.
July 2021Heavy RainAltoona-Rainfall report of 5.1 inches since 6 pm. Report submitted via Twitter.
July 2021Heavy RainAltoona-Rainfall since 6pm 7/15 of 10.53 inches.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindAltoona-This was reported as an estimated gust.
July 2020HailAltoona-Damage to car windshields was noted with this hail storm.
July 2020HailAltoona-Windshields were being busted out.
July 2020HailAltoona-Size estimated from a photo via Twitter.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindAltoona-The public reported the gust.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Trees were knocked down across town. This was a delayed report.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Sustained winds were estimated around 50 mph, with gusts up to 70 mph.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Winds were estimated around 60 mph.
July 2011HailAltoona-The hail covered the ground, and occurred with winds estimated around 55 mph.
August 2005HailAltoona-AGTAP WL404.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Large limb fell onto power line.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Tree limbs and power lines blown down across central part of county.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindAltoona-,Numerous large trees and power lines were downed.
May 2022HailAltoona-no account filed
April 2016HailAltoona-no account filed
April 2015HailAltoona-no account filed
April 2015HailAltoona-no account filed
April 2015HailAltoona-no account filed
April 2015HailAltoona-no account filed
August 2015HailAltoona-no account filed
October 2014HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2011HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2011HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2011HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2011HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindAltoona-no account filed
June 2008HailAltoona-no account filed
March 2006HailAltoona-no account filed
March 2006HailAltoona-no account filed
May 2006HailAltoona-no account filed
August 2006HailAltoona-no account filed
August 2006Thunderstorm WindAltoona-no account filed
April 2005HailAltoona-no account filed
November 2005HailAltoona-no account filed
April 2004Thunderstorm WindAltoona-no account filed
April 2004HailAltoona-no account filed
March 2003HailAltoona-no account filed
March 2003HailAltoona-no account filed
March 2003HailAltoona-no account filed
April 2002HailAltoona-no account filed
May 2002HailAltoona-no account filed
May 2002Thunderstorm WindAltoona-no account filed
April 2001HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2001HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2001HailAltoona-no account filed
June 2001HailAltoona-no account filed
April 1998HailAltoona-no account filed
April 1997Thunderstorm WindAltoona-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Wilson 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
Buffville2.9 miles17
Hilford5.2 miles17
Guilford6.0 miles23
Neodesha7.4 miles17
Benedict Junction8.3 miles24
Benedict8.4 miles24
Fredonia8.8 miles24
Rest8.9 miles22

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 AltoonaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2050506The 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 475090. 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.