BlockBefore

Plainville, Kansas

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Township 11. It lies in ZIP code area 67663. The Survey maps it on the Plainville quadrangle. 1,746 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,146 feet above sea level.

Plainville within Rooks County

Population over time

2 figures

Plainville fell from 1,903 to 1,746 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
20101,903
20201,746-157 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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

32 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Plainville between 2015 and 2018, burning about 52 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/undetermined27
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks1
Equipment and vehicle use1
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
25 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresKansas Forest Service78
22 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service76
16 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service73
15 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service69
15 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service71
15 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service72
10 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Service66
10 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service67

Every fire recorded in Rooks County

Storms near this place

60 of 83 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Plainville in 83 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 50 hail, 22 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 4 heavy rain. 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
April 2001Tornado (F0)Plainville1 hurt, $100,000no account filed
April 2001Tornado (F1)Plainville$600,000no account filed
August 2019Thunderstorm WindPlainville$500,000A 71 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet site located near Plainville. Emergency management and media confirmed considerable tree damage in Plainville, along with a roof blown off of a former lumberyard and all but the bottom section of a county communications tower toppled to the ground. Three transformers were struck by lightning and power lines were downed. An NWS cooperative observer located 4 miles west-northwest of Plainville reported multiple tree limbs downed and chimney damage to their home. A semi-truck was blown over approximately 5 miles south of Plainville.
August 2011HailPlainville$250,000Hail up to the size of golf balls nearly covered the ground.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindPlainville$125,000Numerous tree branches were downed, some up to 6 to 7 inches in diameter. A hog facility building suffered roof damage and a cement block wall collapsed. A few power poles in the area were damaged.
May 2024HailPlainville$100,000Quarter to ping pong ball size hail was reported.
July 2004HailPlainville$100,000Penny to walnut size hail was reported in the Palco area along with 70 mph winds.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindPlainville$60,000Fence was damaged and bleachers were overturned at ball field. Golf ball size hail was also reported.
June 2020HailPlainville$50,000Hail ranging in size from ping pong balls to 3 inches in diameter was reported along this path.
April 2013HailPlainville$50,000Hail up to the size of ping pong balls lasted for 5 minutes.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindPlainville$50,000Abandoned mobile homes and a construction trailer damaged.
June 2023HailPlainville$50,000no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindPlainville$50,000no account filed
May 2018HailPlainville$25,000Hail ranging in size from quarters to half dollars was reported.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindPlainville$25,000Wind gusts were estimated between 60 and 70 MPH, downing numerous tree branches.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindPlainville$25,000Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH.
June 2008HailPlainville$25,000Golfball to baseball size hail reported.
June 2014HailPlainville$25,000no account filed
May 2012HailPlainville$25,000no account filed
April 2010Flash FloodPlainville$25,000no account filed
May 2003HailPlainville$25,000no account filed
June 1996HailPlainville$20,000no account filed
April 2013HailPlainville$15,000This report was a public report, relayed by the emergency manager. The ping pong size hail occurred along with 1.5 inches of rain and the hail was 6 inches deep.
August 1997Flash FloodPlainville$15,000no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindPlainville$10,000no account filed
August 2007Flash FloodPlainville$8,000no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindPlainville$7,000North doors were blown off a metal farm building. Shingles were blown off from roof on the southwest portion of house. Wooden playset was blown over and broken with pieces blown to the east. Strong winds lasted approximately 5 minutes.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindPlainville$5,000no account filed
June 1994HailPlainville$500Trees down in Plainville.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindPlainville$500Trees down in Plainville.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindPlainville-Wind gusts of 66 MPH and 62 MPH were measured by a mesonet station located six miles north of Plainville.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindPlainville-A wind gust of 83 MPH was measured by a Kansas State Mesonet station located six miles north of Plainville.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindPlainville-A wind gust of 62 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located in Plainville.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindPlainville-A wind gust of 59 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located in Plainville.
September 2016Heavy RainPlainville-A storm total rainfall amount of 5.80 inches was reported, most of which fell between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. CST.
September 2016Heavy RainPlainville-A storm total rainfall amounts up to 6 to 6.50 inches were reported around town, most of which fell between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. CST.
May 2016Heavy RainPlainville-A 24-hour rainfall total of 4.28 inches was reported.
April 2013HailPlainville-Quarter size hail was mixed with smaller hail.
April 2013HailPlainville-Pea to nickel size hail was reported.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindPlainville-Wind gusts estimated at 60 mph.
June 2005Heavy RainPlainville-Plainville reported 3.55 inches of rain in about 90 minutes on this evening. Some roads in the Plainville area had 8 to 9 inches of water over them for a time. The Paradise Creek south of town overflowed its banks for a time.
May 2001Tornado (F0)Plainville-Brief touchdown in open country.
May 2023HailPlainville-no account filed
July 2023HailPlainville-no account filed
May 2023HailPlainville-no account filed
August 2023HailPlainville-no account filed
June 2022HailPlainville-no account filed
June 2021HailPlainville-no account filed
June 2021Thunderstorm WindPlainville-no account filed
August 2021HailPlainville-no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindPlainville-no account filed
June 2020Thunderstorm WindPlainville-no account filed
May 2018HailPlainville-no account filed
May 2016HailPlainville-no account filed
May 2016HailPlainville-no account filed
September 2015HailPlainville-no account filed
June 2014HailPlainville-no account filed
June 2014HailPlainville-no account filed
May 2013HailPlainville-no account filed
April 2013HailPlainville-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rooks 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
Codell7.0 miles12
Zurich7.4 miles12
Laton12.2 miles12
Webster (historical)13.6 miles13
Palco14.1 miles13
Stockton14.1 miles14
Damar16.2 miles13
Woodston18.6 miles13

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 PlainvilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2175173The 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 472441. 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.