Bern, Kansas
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Washington Township. It lies in ZIP code area 66408. The Survey maps it on the Bern quadrangle. 161 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,280 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBern fell from 166 to 161 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 | 166 | |
| 2020 | 161 | -5 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 17 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.
- 1888 USGS Hiawatha quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Hiawatha quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1950 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Bern quadrangle1:24000
- 1960 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Atchison quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Atchison quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
19 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Bern between 2000 and 2017, burning about 581 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 August 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6.0 acres | Horton Agency | JOHN DEERE |
| 2 May 2001 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Horton Agency | FESTUS |
| 30 April 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Horton Agency | DILLON |
| 25 April 2001 | Debris and open burning | 160 acres | Horton Agency | KICK |
| 25 April 2001 | Debris and open burning | 17 acres | Horton Agency | LOST |
| 25 April 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Horton Agency | WAGON |
| 25 April 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Horton Agency | OLD |
| 25 April 2001 | Debris and open burning | 220 acres | Horton Agency | POO |
Storms near this place
27 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bern in 27 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 17 hail, 5 tornado, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2014 | Tornado (EF3) | Bern | 2 hurt | A tornado touched down around the intersection of highway 71 and 63 around 1030 pm CDT. The damage path moved southeast and included several homes that were severely damaged and one totally destroyed. The worst damage occurred to a slab home anchored to the foundation by anchor bolts installed with nuts and washers every 12-18 inches. All exterior and interior walls were destroyed however the debris was primarily laid on top of the slab with some debris blown to the south. Two adult residents took shelter in a tub and survived with minor injuries although the tub was gone and it was suspected to have been blown into a lake to the south. The tornado damage path continued southeast for approximately 6.5 to 7.5 miles total. EF3 rating with winds to around 140 mph. The end time of the tornado was around 1043 pm CDT. |
| September 2023 | Hail | Bern | - | Golf ball sized hail reported. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bern | - | Power poles snapped and tree damage in Bern. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bern | - | Tree limbs down. |
| May 2019 | Tornado (EF3) | Bern | - | This short-lived but powerful tornado tracked through northern Nemaha County and damaged several structures. The most severe damage occurred to a home towards the middle of the tornado's path, where low end EF-3 damage was noted. Damage to trees and power lines also occurred. The tornado lifted about 200 yards south of the Nebraska state line. |
| May 2016 | Hail | Bern | - | Delayed report, via social media. |
| May 2016 | Hail | Bern | - | Delayed report, via social media. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Bern | - | The nickel-sized hail was 2 to 3 inches deep. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Bern | - | Hail fell for over 20 minutes in Bern. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bern | - | Report relayed by nssl shave project. |
| November 2008 | Hail | Bern | - | Nickle sized hail fell. Forty to fifty mph winds were also reported. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bern | - | Report relayed by nssl shave project. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bern | - | Report relayed by nssl shave project. |
| September 2007 | Flash Flood | Bern | - | Hwy 71 was closed due to flooding between Hwy 63 and the town of Bern. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bern | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Bern | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Bern | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Bern | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bern | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bern | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Bern | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Bern | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Bern | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Bern | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Tornado (F1) | Bern | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Bern | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Bern | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oneida | 7.0 miles | 17 | |
| Berwick | 7.0 miles | 17 | |
| Saint Benedict | 8.5 miles | 14 | |
| Sabetha | 10.0 miles | 17 | |
| Seneca | 10.1 miles | 14 | |
| Woodlawn | 13.6 miles | 17 | |
| Baileyville | 13.9 miles | 14 | |
| Capioma | 15.1 miles | 17 |
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 Bern | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q822114 | 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 472747. 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.








