BlockBefore

Brewster, Kansas

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in West Hale Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67732. The Survey maps it on the Brewster quadrangle. 291 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,428 feet above sea level.

Brewster within Thomas County

Population over time

2 figures

Brewster fell from 305 to 291 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
2010305
2020291-14 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

1 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Brewster in 2015, burning about 1 acre 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
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
4 July 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresKansas Forest Service47

Every fire recorded in Thomas County

Storms near this place

60 of 111 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brewster in 111 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 66 hail, 33 thunderstorm wind, 8 tornado, 3 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
October 2011Tornado (EF1)Brewster$200,000The tornado developed about 4 miles SSE of Brewster near Roads 3 and M. The tornado traveled north-northeast at speeds of 50 mph, passing east of Brewster and dissipating about 4 miles northeast of Brewster near roads 4 and T. One farmstead south of Interstate 70 received damage to outbuildings, trees, a large grain bin and utility poles on the property. Fortunately only minor roof damage occurred as the large tree branches fell on the house. Further northeast several utility poles were snapped and at least one irrigation pivot was overturned. Numerous outbuildings were also damaged at a farm near Roads 4 and R as the tornado moved northeast.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBrewster$75,000Straight-line winds destroyed an empty grain bin, tore some roof off of a barn and collapsed a second barn. Structural integrity of the collapsed barn prior to the damaging winds is unknown.
April 2007Tornado (EF0)Brewster$48,000Tornado affected one homestead at Roads L and 5, destroying an empty, poorly anchored grain bin. Several trees were uprooted, and minor home damage occurred.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindBrewster$15,000A 12-inch diameter tree branch was blown onto a house in the south part of town. Power lines were also downed in strong winds. Numerous 3-5 inch diameter tree limbs were down throughout town.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindBrewster$3,000Strong winds uprotted trees and blew over tower.
May 2021HailBrewster$1,000Golf ball to tennis ball size hail was reported. The hail broke the vehicle's windshield.
August 2025HailBrewster-EM reported ping pong ball hail in Brewster.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindBrewster-A powerline was reported down in Brewster.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindBrewster-A chicken coop was blown away in Brewster, KS.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Spotter reports live trees down, fences down, and shingles blown off of houses in Brewster, KS. Wind speed estimated based on damage indicators.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Off-duty employee reported 1/4 mile visibility due to dust associated with storm outflow moved through 2 miles east of Brewster, KS. Gusts up to 42 mph were measured via an anemometer held at 8 feet.
July 2022Tornado (EFU)Brewster-Landspout sighted about 10 miles east-southeast from the Sherman/Cheyenne County line, north of Edson, KS.
July 2022Tornado (EFU)Brewster-A second landspout was spotted a mile north of the first landspout in extreme northwest Thomas County. Landspout was sighted 10 miles east-southeast of the Sherman/Cheyenne County line, north of Edson.
June 2022HailBrewster-Pea to quarter sized hail reported. Most of the hail was pea to dime in size.
May 2021HailBrewster-A supercell thunderstorm produced dime to quarter sized hail.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindBrewster-A linear cluster of storms moved into western Thomas County, producing strong winds estimated near 70 and blowing dust with near zero visibility.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Officer reported an estimated 60 mph wind gust and heavy rain near Brewster.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Trained spotter reported estimated 60 mph wind gusts at the location.
May 2019HailBrewster-Hail covered the ground.
May 2019HailBrewster-Irregularly shaped hail.
June 2019HailBrewster-Report from near the Brewster exit on I-70.
June 2019Flash FloodBrewster-Water of unknown depth was running across both roads near the intersection of County Road 3 and County Road P just east of Brewster.
August 2019Flash FloodBrewster-Local law enforcement reported that several of the streets in Brewster were flooded.
June 2018HailBrewster-The hail ranged from pea to penny in size and was accompanied by 40-50 MPH wind gusts.
July 2017HailBrewster-The hail ranged from one to two inches.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindBrewster-The winds lasted three to four minutes.
May 2016HailBrewster-The hail sizes ranged from nickel to quarter size.
September 2016HailBrewster-A home lost all of the windows in it from the hail. The glass was blown into the house.
September 2016HailBrewster-The hail ranged from half dollar to tennis ball size. Many downtown businesses lost windows. The school lost 34 windows. Some of the glass was embedded in the gym floor from the hail and wind. At least one corn field near town was completely destroyed.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Power lines were blown down onto the roadway causing I-70 to be closed at mile marker 38. Near zero visibility was also reported due to the blowing dust.
April 2015HailBrewster-Hail reportedly covered the Interstate 3 miles east of Brewster.
June 2014Tornado (EF0)Brewster-Location approximate as viewed from Goodland, and estimated by Doppler velocity couplet.
August 2014HailBrewster-The spotter also reported 0.40 inches of rain in 15 minutes.
July 2013HailBrewster-Spotter reported mostly quarter size hail and at least one stone that was 2.5 inches long and 1 inch wide.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Two-inch diameter branches down in Brewster. Time estimated from Doppler radar.
May 2012HailBrewster-Hail was mostly quarter size with a few stones as large as golf balls.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Spotter estimated peak wind gusts to 60 mph.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Off duty NWS employee reported 77 mph gust at I-70 mile marker 42.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Off duty NWS employee reported 77 mph gust at I-70 mile marker 42.
April 2007Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Car blown off Interstate 70 at mile marker 39 just east of Brewster. No known injuries.
April 2007HailBrewster-Golf ball hail covering the ground.
September 2004Thunderstorm WindBrewster-Tree down and power pole broken.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindBrewster-The strong winds knocked down power lines in the Brewster area.
October 2000Funnel CloudBrewster-Funnel spotted from Brewster, but was likely located across county line.
May 2021HailBrewster-no account filed
May 2021HailBrewster-no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBrewster-no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBrewster-no account filed
May 2019HailBrewster-no account filed
June 2019HailBrewster-no account filed
June 2019HailBrewster-no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindBrewster-no account filed
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBrewster-no account filed
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBrewster-no account filed
August 2018Thunderstorm WindBrewster-no account filed
May 2017HailBrewster-no account filed
July 2017Thunderstorm WindBrewster-no account filed
July 2017HailBrewster-no account filed
April 2015HailBrewster-no account filed
June 2014HailBrewster-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Thomas 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
Levant9.7 miles9
Brownville12.5 miles7
Colby17.3 miles9
Mingo22.8 miles7
Gem25.7 miles7
Spica26.8 miles8
Halford26.9 miles7
Breton30.4 miles7

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 BrewsterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2403590The 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 471255. 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.