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Niles, Kansas

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Lincoln Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67480. The Survey maps it on the Niles quadrangle. 56 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,204 feet above sea level.

Niles within Ottawa County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 16 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 Niles between 2015 and 2018, burning about 8 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 burning3
Equipment and vehicle use1
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
3 June 2018Debris and open burning3.0 acresKansas Forest Service46
10 April 2017Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSaline County38
20 March 2017Equipment and vehicle use4.0 acresSaline County32
12 March 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreKansas Forest Service24
15 December 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Service101
7 January 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreKansas Forest Service2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ottawa County

Storms near this place

23 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Niles in 23 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 11 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 1 flood. The reports record 3 injuries. 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 2016Tornado (EF3)Niles3 hurtThe 26 mile long violent tornado began 1-2 miles NNE of Niles Kansas and destroyed 2 homes in Ottawa county before crossing into Dickinson county. The tornado produced high end EF3 damage in extreme eastern Ottawa county. Only 3 minor injuries were reported but none requiring a trip to the hospital.
May 2007FloodNiles$100,000Moderate or greater flooding along the Solomon River. Widespread flooding of roads vicinity of the river near Niles.
April 2012Tornado (EF1)Niles$10,000Numerous reports of a well formed stove-pipe tornado were received as the storm crossed the Saline/Ottawa County line. The storm was also watched on live TV at the office via storm chaser cameras. The tornado was very well formed and was likely very strong; however, it did not impact many structures so the subsequent rating was EF-1. The extent of the damage was to a gas transfer station along K-18 near Solomon Road in rural Ottawa County. Near the station some power poles were snapped and laying across the roadway. Aside from the gas transfer station a few farmsteads were impacted, with the main damage being some damaged outbuildings. The tornado crossed the Ottawa/Dickinson County line near Barn Road and 3200 Road, and eventually dissipated in an open field in near Manchester.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindNiles-Estimated wind gust.
June 2024HailNiles-Tree limbs down closer to Bennington. Also have 50 mph wind gusts.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindNiles-Quarter size hail was also reported with the storm.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindNiles-A ten inch tree and a TV antenna was blown over.
February 2007Thunderstorm WindNiles-Branches at least 2 inches in diameter blown off trees. Some dime size hail also falling.
April 2006Tornado (F0)Niles-This tornado started just across the border in Saline County and crossed the border into Ottawa County 3 miles east-southeast of Niles at 2:54pm cst . It was on the ground for 2.5 miles before lifting 3 miles east of Niles at 2:57pm cst. It was 200 yards wide. The F0 tornado knocked down 4 power poles and was caused by a supercell thunderstorm.
April 2025Funnel CloudNiles-no account filed
June 2024HailNiles-no account filed
April 2016HailNiles-no account filed
May 2015HailNiles-no account filed
May 2012HailNiles-no account filed
May 2012HailNiles-no account filed
May 2008HailNiles-no account filed
May 2002HailNiles-no account filed
April 2001HailNiles-no account filed
April 2001HailNiles-no account filed
June 1998Tornado (F0)Niles-no account filed
July 1996HailNiles-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindNiles-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindNiles-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ottawa 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
Verdi2.6 miles16
Bennington8.1 miles14
Vine Creek10.6 miles14
Wells12.6 miles14
Lindsey14.3 miles15
Culver15.7 miles16
Minneapolis16.7 miles15
Alfmil17.7 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 NilesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q18353511The 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 476654. 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.