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Ellis, Kansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Ellis City. It lies in ZIP code area 67637. The Survey maps it on the Ellis quadrangle. 1,958 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,119 feet above sea level.

Ellis within Ellis County

On record in Ellis

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 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Ellis fell from 2,062 to 1,958 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
20102,062
20201,958-104 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 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

14 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Ellis between 2015 and 2020, burning about 44 acres in total. 1 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Equipment and vehicle use5
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Natural1

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
5 September 2017Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreEllis County1700019
31 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Service241
27 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service1500021
24 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named
12 July 2018Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresKansas Forest Service201
12 June 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreEllis County1700014
8 May 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreEllis County1700009
4 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service15-0054

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ellis County

Storms near this place

60 of 164 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ellis in 164 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 78 hail, 47 thunderstorm wind, 15 heavy rain, 13 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. 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 2008Tornado (EF1)Ellis1 hurtThis tornado produced EF1 damage to outbuildings, a storage tank, power poles and houses in Ellis. A female was injured when she went out to get her horse and was hit by flying debris from the tornado.
June 2003HailEllis$1,500,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis$500,000The city manager reported multiple buildings destroyed and numerous buildings with partial damage. Forty percent of the headstones in the cemetery were turned over by the high wind. Also, big trees were snapped.
April 2001Tornado (F2)Ellis$150,000A tornado moved in from Trego county at 2209 and moved into Rooks county at 2238. It took out 50 power poles in Ellis county and damaged 13 farms. Roofs were removed on several homes and there was extensive damage done to several outbuildings and trailers. Two semis were overturned on I-70 west of Ellis causing several minor injuries. Reports of the infamous "roar" were noted in the Ellis community.
May 1995Thunderstorm WindEllis$40,000A silo was destroyed and power lines down.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindEllis$30,000Two semis overturned on I70
July 1996Thunderstorm WindEllis$15,000no account filed
May 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis$1,500A roof was blown off a medium sized utility building and a power pole was snapped in half.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindEllis-A public weather station KKSELLIS46 recorded a 68 mph wind gust.
May 2025HailEllis-Public report of 1.75 inch hail.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindEllis-Thunderstorm wind gusts in Ellis.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindEllis-A wind gust was estimated to be around 60 MPH.
May 2021HailEllis-A public report relayed by the television media.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindEllis-A tree was blown down by the high wind.
May 2019Heavy RainEllis-Rainfall of 3.76 was reported.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be at least 60 MPH.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindEllis-A power pole was blown down by the high wind.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindEllis-Large branches and a fence were blown down by winds estimated to be 70 MPH.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 60 to 70 MPH.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindEllis-Eight inch diameter tree branches were broken and a shed was blown down.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindEllis-There was significant damage done to a school roof and power lines were blown down.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindEllis-Power lines were blown down.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be at least 60 MPH.
May 2018FloodEllis-Street flooding was reported.
July 2018Heavy RainEllis-Rainfall of 2.68 inches was measured.
September 2017Heavy RainEllis-Rainfall of 4.75 inches fell during the previous 24 hours.
April 2016FloodEllis-Water was covering several roads in the Ellis area with a few washed out.
June 2016Flash FloodEllis-Water from the Big Creek Basin flowed over some of the local roads and as much as 18 inches deep.
May 2016Tornado (EF0)Ellis-This was a brief and apparently weak tornado.
September 2016Heavy RainEllis-Rainfall of 5.56 inches was observed.
June 2014FloodEllis-Water was over the roads at many locations.
June 2014Flash FloodEllis-Heavy rain flooded most streets in Ellis and some county roads outside of town.
June 2014FloodEllis-Flooding was observed northwest of Ellis near I70.
June 2014Heavy RainEllis-Rainfall of 4.27 inches was reported.
June 2014Heavy RainEllis-Rainfall of 4.50 inches was reported.
June 2014Heavy RainEllis-Rainfall of 4.52 inches was reported.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindEllis-A small shop had some roof damage and also part of a brick wall. Large trees were blown down in town.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 70 MPH.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
May 2013Tornado (EF1)Ellis-This small tornado damaged some power poles and trees.
April 2013HailEllis-Hail pea to dime sized was covering the ground.
June 2013Heavy RainEllis-Heavy rainfall of 3 inches was reported near the intersection of 160th and Buckeye roads.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindEllis-A porch roof was blown off and another roof was peeled back on a trailer house.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindEllis-A tree was uprooted and several large tree limbs were blown down.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH. Hail also fell but the size was never determined.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindEllis-There were several semi trucks blown over on Interstate 70 from winds of at least 60 MPH.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis-A semi was blown off Interstate 70.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis-Large tree limbs were broken, a power pole was blown down and the roof was torn off a tin building.
June 2010FloodEllis-Law enforcement reported major street flooding in Ellis.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 65 mph.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 70 mph.
June 2010HailEllis-The hail started out as golfball sized then became quarter sized. All window in the farm house were broken out. Several wheat fields in the area were destroyed.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis-Trees were blown down at several farms in northwest Ellis county.
May 2010Tornado (EF0)Ellis-The tornado passed across pasture land and did not strike anything.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindEllis-Winds were estimated to be 70 mph.
August 2009HailEllis-The majority of the hail ranged from pea to nickel sized.
May 2008Tornado (EF0)Ellis-This tornado moved north and then northwest. No damage was reported.
May 2008Tornado (EF0)Ellis-This was a brief tornado.

Every storm recorded in Ellis 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
Hog Back4.4 miles15
Yocemento7.5 miles15
Hays13.0 miles16
Antonino13.9 miles14
Toulon17.9 miles14
Munjor18.0 miles16
Catharine18.2 miles15
Schoenchen19.7 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 EllisAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2901463The 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 475174. 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.