BlockBefore

Ensign, Kansas

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1985. It stands in East Hess Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67841. The Survey maps it on the Ensign quadrangle. 166 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,720 feet above sea level.

Ensign within Gray County

Population over time

2 figures

Ensign fell from 187 to 166 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
2010187
2020166-21 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 12 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

4 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Ensign between 2015 and 2020, burning about 222 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Debris and open burning1

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
28 April 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined12 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named
21 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined200 acresKansas Forest Service1150048
24 January 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresKansas Forest Service1800004
22 January 2015Debris and open burning4.0 acresKansas Forest Service1150014

Every fire recorded in Gray County

Storms near this place

56 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ensign in 56 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 32 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado, 2 heavy rain. 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
March 2007Tornado (EF1)Ensign$160,000This tornado damage several Pivot irrigation sprinklers, sheds, barns, garages, trees and a corral.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindEnsign$3,500Empty 3000 bushel grain bin was blown across the road.
March 2007Tornado (EF0)Ensign$3,000This tornado did some minor damage to a barn along its track. It started in Meade county at 742 PM CDT 3 miles west of Fowler.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindEnsign-Multiple public reports at the same time and location of tree branches being snapped, shingles blown off, and siding blown off.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindEnsign-Winds were estimated to be around 65 MPH.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindEnsign-Winds were estimated to be close to 60 MPH.
May 2018Tornado (EF0)Ensign-This tornado was visible over 15 miles away. It appeared to be strong but the compact circulation stayed away from pivot sprinklers. Field debris was deposited on a power line but the poles did not come down. Mud was scoured 8 inches deep. The tornado moved into Ford county at 1553 CST.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindEnsign-Winds were estimated to be 65 MPH.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindEnsign-Winds were estimated to be at least 60 MPH.
November 2015Tornado (EF1)Ensign-This tornado developed on the southeast side of the cyclic supercell tornado that tracked from near Liberal to NNW of Haggard. It damaged a home that had been rebuilt from the May 24th tornado. This tornado moved into Ford county at 19:02.
June 2014Funnel CloudEnsign-Two brief funnels were reported within 10 minutes of each other.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindEnsign-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
May 2006Heavy RainEnsign-4.10" of rain fell overnight.
May 2006Heavy RainEnsign-4.00" of rain fell overnight
May 2005Thunderstorm WindEnsign-Four to six inch diameter tree branches were broken.
October 2005Tornado (F0)Ensign-This tornado made contact for less than a minute. It was viewed from a spotter location near the tornado and also by NWS employees at the Dodge City airport.
August 2002Flash FloodEnsign-Numerous county roads were flooded.
May 2021HailEnsign-no account filed
August 2021HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2019HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2019HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2013HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2008HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2008HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2008HailEnsign-no account filed
May 2007HailEnsign-no account filed
April 2006HailEnsign-no account filed
May 2006HailEnsign-no account filed
May 2006HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2006HailEnsign-no account filed
September 2006HailEnsign-no account filed
August 2006HailEnsign-no account filed
July 2005Thunderstorm WindEnsign-no account filed
July 2005Thunderstorm WindEnsign-no account filed
October 2005HailEnsign-no account filed
October 2005HailEnsign-no account filed
May 2004HailEnsign-no account filed
May 2004HailEnsign-no account filed
September 2003Thunderstorm WindEnsign-no account filed
August 2002HailEnsign-no account filed
May 2001HailEnsign-no account filed
June 2001HailEnsign-no account filed
August 2001HailEnsign-no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindEnsign-no account filed
May 1998HailEnsign-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindEnsign-no account filed
May 1998HailEnsign-no account filed
May 1998HailEnsign-no account filed
June 1997HailEnsign-no account filed
May 1997HailEnsign-no account filed
May 1997Thunderstorm WindEnsign-no account filed
May 1996HailEnsign-no account filed
August 1996Thunderstorm WindEnsign-no account filed
May 1994HailEnsign-no account filed
May 1993HailEnsign-no account filed
September 1993HailEnsign-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Gray 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
Haggard4.8 miles12
Wettick10.1 miles12
Montezuma11.8 miles12
Cimarron12.2 miles12
Ingalls16.8 miles12
Copeland22.3 miles12
Charleston22.9 miles12

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 EnsignAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2901503The 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 471691. 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.