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Belle Plaine, Kansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Belle Plaine Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67013. The Survey maps it on the Belle Plaine quadrangle. 1,467 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,224 feet above sea level.

Belle Plaine within Sumner County

On record in Belle Plaine

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Belle Plaine fell from 1,681 to 1,467 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
20101,681
20201,467-214 (-13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 14 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

72 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 72 fires within 5 miles of Belle Plaine between 2001 and 2020, burning about 227 acres 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined46
Debris and open burning14
Equipment and vehicle use7
Recreation and ceremony4
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
29 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named
2 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service868
17 September 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreKansas Forest Service132
28 August 2017Equipment and vehicle use50 acresSumner County128
25 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named
22 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKansas Forest Service139
11 June 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service109
10 June 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sumner County

Storms near this place

60 of 85 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Belle Plaine in 85 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 43 thunderstorm wind, 34 hail, 4 tornado, 2 flash 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
May 2001Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$75,000Lumber yard had part of roof pulled loose, numerous boards tossed, materials knocked off walls and heavy gate blown open. Fences were blown down all over town as were numerous trees.
May 2019Flash FloodBelle Plaine$50,000Several road were reported underwater, with vehicles stranded south of Belle Plaine.
March 2000Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$50,000Severe thunderstorm winds rolled over one mobile home and blew down numerous tree limbs.
June 1998Tornado (F0)Belle Plaine$50,000A few outbuildings damaged.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$50,000ROOF BLOWN OFF A HOUSE JUST NORTH OF BELLE PLAINE.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$25,000Large tree fell onto a house, caving in part of it's roof.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$15,000Several power poles were knocked down as was a fireworks stand located at a Walmart parking lot. The Wellington Daily News contributed to this narrative.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$10,000Report on social media of tree branches down and power outages.
April 2012Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$10,000Utility poles were downed west of Udall along Highway 55, and sporadic power outages were reported.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$10,000Widespread tree damage, including a large tree that fell onto a car and totaled a storage shed.
September 2010Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$7,000Multiple cottonwood trees were uprooted at the Arboretum. Three to 12 inch diameter trees were also reported down.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$5,000A few trees were uprooted, and some siding was stripped off a city building.
September 2010Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$3,000A ten by ten metal shed was blown off its foundation. Powerlines were also down across town.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$500A foot diameter tree branch was blown down.
September 2010Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$500Windows were blown out of the south side of a house.
October 1993Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$500no account filed
October 1993HailBelle Plaine$500no account filed
April 1994HailBelle Plaine$50no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-This wind gust was estimated.
June 2024Heavy RainBelle Plaine-A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.08 inches was measured in Belle Plaine.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Public reported several large trees limbs down.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Trained spotter reported large trees bending over.
June 2023Heavy RainBelle Plaine-Measured rainfall of 1.75 inches.
May 2022HailBelle Plaine-A picture was sent via Facebook of the tennis ball sized hail.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Report of estimated winds was received via Facebook.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Numerous power outages across town due to the estimated 60 mph winds.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A trained spotter reported the gust.
May 2019Flash FloodBelle Plaine-A MPING Report was received of flooded roads.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Several large limbs were downed.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-No damage reported.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Relayed via KAKE TV that there were utility poles and 6 to 12 inch diameter trees snapped.
September 2010HailBelle Plaine-The hail was nickel to quarter size, along with 40 mph winds.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Quarter size hail was also reported with the wind.
August 2009HailBelle Plaine-Wind to 60 mph occurred with the hail.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Severe straight line winds derailed 16 out of 30 cars of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train. The train was traveling through Belle Plain from the Chicago area heading to Southern California and was carrying empty freight containers stacked two high.
July 2005HailBelle Plaine-Occurred at 90th St. N./Highway 81 intersection.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-AGTAP SU203.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Damage to 3-inch diameter limbs.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Large limbs downed.
May 2001Tornado (F0)Belle Plaine-Occurred in open country.
September 1999Tornado (F0)Belle Plaine-Reported by train engineer and relayed by Weatherdata.
July 2025HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2022HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2022HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
August 2016Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2011HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
April 2011HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
September 2010HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2009HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2008HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
March 2008Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2008HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2007Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
October 2007Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
July 2005Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
August 2005Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
April 2004Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sumner 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
Cicero5.2 miles13
Mulvane5.9 miles13
Riverdale6.0 miles14
Zyba6.4 miles14
Whitman6.5 miles14
Bushnell6.8 miles14
Peck7.5 miles14
Dalton8.6 miles13

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 Belle PlaineAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1825025The 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 470240. 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.