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Elk Falls, Kansas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Elk Falls Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67345. It stands on Wildcat Creek. The Survey maps it on the Elk Falls quadrangle. 113 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 938 feet above sea level.

Elk Falls within Elk County

On record in Elk Falls

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Elk Falls grew from 107 to 113 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
2010107
2020113+6 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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

29 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Elk Falls between 2015 and 2020, burning about 4,257 acres in total. None started naturally. 6 were 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/undetermined15
Debris and open burning7
Arson/incendiarism6
Smoking1

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 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresElk County17066
12 May 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service1500067
5 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresKansas Forest Service1838
20 April 2019Debris and open burning4.0 acresKansas Forest Service18028
2 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresKansas Forest Service1500050
2 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service1500051
17 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined800 acresKansas Forest Service18047
15 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined300 acresKansas Forest Service1843

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Elk County

Storms near this place

34 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elk Falls in 34 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 18 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 2 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
January 2008Thunderstorm WindElk Falls$7,500A trained spotter reported that thunderstorm winds downed a powerline south of Elk Falls.
May 1993Thunderstorm WindElk Falls$5,000no account filed
March 2015HailElk Falls$1,000The report was received from a ham operator. The hail caused dents on a car roof.
April 2024Tornado (EFU)Elk Falls-A tornado was reported by law enforcement likely between Elk Falls and Longton. No damage occurred.
July 2023HailElk Falls-There was nickel to quarter sized hail near Elk Falls.
May 2020Flash FloodElk Falls-Highway 160 was closed from the highway 160/99 intersection across all of Elk County to the Montgomery county line.
May 2020Heavy RainElk Falls-Measured rainfall since 345 am was 5.00 inches.
May 2019Flash FloodElk Falls-Numerous roads along US 160 are flooded and closed.
June 2014Flash FloodElk Falls-Highway 160 was closed near Elk Falls.
May 2011HailElk Falls-Hail size ranged from dimes to quarters.
January 2008HailElk Falls-Mostly pea sized hail occurred, but a few penny sized hail stones fell as well. Winds were estimated at 40 mph.
May 2008Tornado (EF0)Elk Falls-A brief tornado touched down in open country.
May 2008HailElk Falls-Trained spotter reported hail up to the size of tennis balls.
August 2008Flash FloodElk Falls-Law enforcement reported that water was over Highway 160 at mile markers 382 and 384. At one point, up to 8 inches of water was flowing across the highway near mile marker 384.
April 2004Flash FloodElk Falls-Highway 160 flooded. Flash flooding in fields widespread.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindElk Falls-Large limbs blown down.
August 2025HailElk Falls-no account filed
July 2020HailElk Falls-no account filed
July 2020HailElk Falls-no account filed
April 2011HailElk Falls-no account filed
August 2009HailElk Falls-no account filed
May 2008HailElk Falls-no account filed
May 2008HailElk Falls-no account filed
May 2008HailElk Falls-no account filed
May 2008HailElk Falls-no account filed
May 2005HailElk Falls-no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindElk Falls-no account filed
April 2004HailElk Falls-no account filed
April 2004Thunderstorm WindElk Falls-no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindElk Falls-no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindElk Falls-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindElk Falls-no account filed
April 2001HailElk Falls-no account filed
May 1996HailElk Falls-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Elk 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
Longton5.8 miles13
Moline6.1 miles13
Howard8.1 miles13
Oak Valley9.6 miles13
Busby10.4 miles13
Upola10.6 miles16
Cave Springs12.0 miles19
Fiat12.0 miles19

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 Elk FallsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q681022The 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 469868. 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.