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Gem, Kansas

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Lacey Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67734. The Survey maps it on the Gem quadrangle. 98 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,094 feet above sea level.

Gem within Thomas County

Population over time

2 figures

Gem grew from 88 to 98 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
201088
202098+10 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 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 2016

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Gem in 2016, burning under an 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
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
29 February 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service19

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Thomas County

Storms near this place

34 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gem in 34 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 18 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 1 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
June 2021Thunderstorm WindGem$35,000Thomas County Emergency Manager reported a roof blown off a modular home while resident present. No injuries occurred. Also on the property, a utility pole was snapped with power lines down.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindGem$5,000Thunderstorm winds blew off 36 square feet of roofing from barn.
June 1994HailGem$5,000Hail broke several windows and destroyed crops.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindGem$3,000Two trees were blown down, one was split in half.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindGem$2,500Several large Oak tree branches blown down, with one branch landing on the back of a van without causing significant damage.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindGem$2,000A roof of a greenhouse was blown off by a thunderstorm wind gust at location. Wind speed is estimated based on damage. Time of event is radar estimated.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindGem$1,000Power poles down
July 2025Thunderstorm WindGem-Lots of pea size hail and torrential rainfall occurring with 60 MPH winds.
July 2025HailGem-The public reported quarter size hail via MPing.
July 2024HailGem-Hail ranged from pea to between a nickel and quarter in size. Also occurred with 60+ MPH winds.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindGem-Estimated winds to be at least 60 MPH. Also occurred with hail ranging from pea to quarter in size.
July 2024HailGem-Trained spotter reported 1.5 inch hail.
July 2024HailGem-Trained spotter reported hail 1 inch in diameter.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindGem-Several tree limbs down approximately 3-4 inches in diameter.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindGem-Trained spotter estimated 60-70 mph wind.
May 2023HailGem-The hail ranged from quarter to golf ball in size.
August 2023HailGem-Report received of hail that was mostly pea sized with a few hailstones that were quarter sized. Time is radar estimated.
May 2021HailGem-Report received of hail ranging from 1-2 inches at location.
May 2021Tornado (EFU)Gem-Trained spotters and off-duty NWS meteorologists reported brief tornado. Also reported on social media.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindGem-Spotter estimated peak winds at 70 mph.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindGem-Spotter estimated peak thunderstorm winds to be near 60 mph.
June 1994HailGem-Hail broke several windows and destroyed crops.
May 2021HailGem-no account filed
June 2014Thunderstorm WindGem-no account filed
August 2011HailGem-no account filed
August 2011HailGem-no account filed
July 2009HailGem-no account filed
August 2009HailGem-no account filed
May 2007Thunderstorm WindGem-no account filed
April 2005HailGem-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindGem-no account filed
June 2001HailGem-no account filed
October 2000HailGem-no account filed
May 1995HailGem-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
Halford4.1 miles7
Breton4.7 miles7
Colby8.5 miles9
Rexford8.7 miles8
Menlo10.5 miles7
Mingo10.9 miles7
Spica15.3 miles8
Levant16.0 miles9

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 GemAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2673490The 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 471208. 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.