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Centralia, Kansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Home Township. It lies in ZIP code area 66415. The Survey maps it on the Centralia quadrangle. 485 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,273 feet above sea level.

Centralia within Nemaha County

Population over time

2 figures

Centralia fell from 512 to 485 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
2010512
2020485-27 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 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

6 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Centralia between 2015 and 2018, burning about 53 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
Debris and open burning2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Arson/incendiarism1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
10 June 2017Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNemaha County13
19 April 2018Equipment and vehicle use10 acresKansas Forest Service1
9 March 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreKansas Forest Service2
8 March 2015Debris and open burning2.0 acresKansas Forest Service1
8 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined25 acresKansas Forest Service12
12 March 2018Arson/incendiarism15 acresKansas Forest Service3

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Nemaha County

Storms near this place

45 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Centralia in 45 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 16 hail, 12 flash flood, 10 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado. 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 1993Tornado (F2)Centralia$5,000,000The longest track tornado of the day moved southwest to northeast across Nemaha county miraculously producing no deaths or injuries. However significant damage occurred to about 20 different farms or farmsteads and related business, machinery and buildings. The tornado just missed populated areas and remained generally in fields and farm areas. Excessive rain in the days after the storm hampered cleanup. Property damage from the tornado was estimated at $1.1 million. In some areas the tornado was about 1/2 mile wide while in other areas damage was only about 100 yards wide. At times the tornado had multiple vortices.
April 1999Thunderstorm WindCentralia$50,000Strong winds damaged 3 to 4 houses near Centralia.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindCentralia$25,000Strong winds blew down a barn.
April 2026Flash FloodCentralia$10,000Kansas department of transportation is shutting down highway K-187 near 112th road due to flooding.
April 2026Flash FloodCentralia$10,000Black Vermillion River is out of its banks and threatening the community.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCentralia$2,000Eighty mph winds caused a roof to collapse.
May 2005Flash FloodCentralia$1,000Fast flowing water running across highway 187.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindCentralia$1,000no account filed
July 2025FloodCentralia-Part of southbound lane of Highway 187 covered by water.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindCentralia-A tree around 8-12 inches in diameter was snapped. A home took siding and window damage, and a sheet metal roof was peeled back on a carport-style outbuilding.
July 2020Flash FloodCentralia-Water reported over 120th Road.
September 2016Flash FloodCentralia-Flooding is ongoing in several parts of Nemaha County, including Centralia. K-187 is closed between MM-3 and MM-4, a county road is closed near Seneca, and portions of Tennessee Creek and Nemaha River are out of their banks near Seneca.
September 2016Flash FloodCentralia-Highway 187 is closed 2 miles north of Centralia due to water across the road.
September 2016Flash FloodCentralia-Highway 187 is closed 2 miles north of Centralia due to water across the road.
May 2016Flash FloodCentralia-Water over the roadway on Highway-187, two miles north of K-9.
June 2015Flash FloodCentralia-Weyer creek is running across K-187 and is 1 foot deep.
June 2015Flash FloodCentralia-Flooding continues along Weyer creek on k-187.
May 2013Flash FloodCentralia-Reports of of K187 closed near Centralia due to water over the roadway.
May 2013Tornado (EF3)Centralia-NWS storm survey indicated that a tornado touched down initially approximately 4 miles west of Corning. The tornado became large and strong producing EF3 damage along its path. It moved slowly and eventually turned north northeast before ending. Maximum winds were estimated around 150 mph.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindCentralia-Two sheds blown onto their roofs and moved up to 20 feet through wire fence. TV antenna also snapped and blown about 60 feet.
July 2009Tornado (EF0)Centralia-A weather observer near Centralia and his wife snapped some pictures of this event. The observer reported he could see rotation all the way towards the ground, and it does appear that a brief landspout did touch down. No damage was reported to the office.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindCentralia-A trained spotter reported 4 to 5 inch tree limbs blown down.
September 2007Flash FloodCentralia-Hwy 187 closed due to flooding between the town of Centralia and Hwy 36.
September 2007Funnel CloudCentralia-Public report of a funnel cloud relayed to emergency manager.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindCentralia-no account filed
April 2018HailCentralia-no account filed
May 2015HailCentralia-no account filed
May 2015HailCentralia-no account filed
September 2015HailCentralia-no account filed
September 2015HailCentralia-no account filed
May 2013HailCentralia-no account filed
May 2013HailCentralia-no account filed
May 2007HailCentralia-no account filed
April 2006Thunderstorm WindCentralia-no account filed
June 2005HailCentralia-no account filed
June 2005HailCentralia-no account filed
June 2005HailCentralia-no account filed
June 2005HailCentralia-no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindCentralia-no account filed
May 2003HailCentralia-no account filed
July 1998FloodCentralia-no account filed
August 1997HailCentralia-no account filed
May 1996HailCentralia-no account filed
July 1996Tornado (F0)Centralia-no account filed
March 1995HailCentralia-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Nemaha 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
Kelly6.6 miles14
Corning7.0 miles14
Seneca8.2 miles14
Beckerville8.2 miles14
Baileyville8.7 miles14
Goff11.2 miles17
Saint Benedict11.2 miles14
Neuchatel11.6 miles14

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 CentraliaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2241073The 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 473214. 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.