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Pretty Prairie, Kansas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Albion Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67570. The Survey maps it on the Pretty Prairie quadrangle. 660 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,572 feet above sea level.

Pretty Prairie within Reno County

Population over time

2 figures

Pretty Prairie fell from 680 to 660 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
2010680
2020660-20 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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

31 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 31 fires within 5 miles of Pretty Prairie between 2015 and 2020, burning about 619 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 4 were 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 burning12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Natural4
Arson/incendiarism4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Smoking1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
18 September 2015Naturalunder an acreKansas Forest Service101
24 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service74
25 July 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreKansas Forest Service93
13 July 2018Naturalunder an acreKansas Forest Service70
26 June 2015Natural1.0 acresKansas Forest Service87
26 June 2015Natural1.0 acresKansas Forest Service88
22 June 2015Equipment and vehicle use7.0 acresKansas Forest Service83
20 June 2015Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresKansas Forest Service80

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Reno County

Storms near this place

60 of 70 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pretty Prairie in 70 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 31 hail, 29 thunderstorm wind, 6 tornado, 2 lightning. The reports record 1 death and 6 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
July 2005Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie1 killed, 6 hurt, $12,500,000Report received approximately 3 hours after occurrence. Therefore, event times are estimates. Damage at Cheney Lake State Park was extensive, and included the marina, around 125 boats, 35 campers, and mobile homes. All 6 people injured by the severe thunderstorms required transport to Wichita hospitals. The extent/magnitude of their injuries was unknown as of this writing. The fatality resulted when the victim was trying out a newly acquired fishing boat. Missing since the severe thunderstorms reached Cheney Lake, his body was found on Tuesday, around 10 a.m., in shallow water near an east-side shore amongst downed cottonwoods. As of this report, it was unknown whether the cause of death was the result of drowning or trauma.Governor Sebelius issued a declaration of disaster emergency for Reno County. An estimated 2,500 farm dwellings and service buildings sustained damage totalling an estimated $2.5 million. Approximately 50 pieces of farm machinery and equipment were damaged or destroyed totalling an estimated $500,000 damage. An estimated 155,000 acres of farmland were considered a total loss. Crop losses, and their respective acreages: Wheat: 2,000; Corn: 15,000; Grain sorghum: 25,000; Soybeans: 10,000. Miscellaneous land damages due to erosion & gullying: 116,000. (Agricultural narrative courtesy of USDA Flash Situation Report.) The Wichita Eagle and Hutchinson News contributed greatly to this narrative.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie$100,000Two grain bins blown over.
July 2005Tornado (F1)Pretty Prairie$60,000One house heavily damaged.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie$50,000Mobile home leveled. Time of occurence is an estimation based on nearby events.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie$50,000*Delayed report received at 1830.* Time of occurrence estimated between 1715 and 1730. Boat storage unit at Cheney Lake destroyed.
August 2002LightningPretty Prairie$30,000Resultant fire damaged roof and attic.
September 1998Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie$25,000Fuel tank blown over as were several power poles in Partridge.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie$10,000The emergency manager reported a few tress were uprooted.
September 1995Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie$6,000The high winds blew the front porch off of a house.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie$5,000Multiple trees and limbs were blown down in Pretty Prairie.
April 2025HailPretty Prairie-KWCH shared report of tennis ball sized hail.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-This wind gust was measured from a Kansas State Mesonet site located 1 mile west-southwest of Pretty Prairie.
March 2021Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Six inch diameter tree limbs were broken across town.
March 2021Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-This was a measured gust.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Power poles were knocked down.
May 2018HailPretty Prairie-Quarter sized hail was reported to KWCH TV by the public.
July 2018FloodPretty Prairie-A road was flooded near Pretty Prairie.
May 2017Tornado (EF0)Pretty Prairie-Tornado moved over open country and caused no damage.
September 2015Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-A trained spotter estimated 50 to 60 mph winds.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-No damage was reported.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-The estimated speeds ranged from 70 to 80 mph. Large hail of unknown sizes was also reported but its surprising that no damage was.
June 2013LightningPretty Prairie-Wheat stubble caught on fire. The field fire occurred on Whiteside Road 1/2 mile east of Boundary Road.
April 2012Tornado (EF0)Pretty Prairie-Brief touchdown in open country.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Winds were estimated around 60 mph.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Estimated winds from a storm chaser.
March 2007Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Some branches were downed across town.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Downed tree limbs at Cheney Reservoir.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Power was reported to be lost in the town.
July 2005Tornado (F0)Pretty Prairie-Brief event.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-Report relayed by emergency manager.
April 2002Tornado (F0)Pretty Prairie-Occurred in open country.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-TREE UPROOTED. SHED BLOWN DOWN.
May 1995Tornado (F0)Pretty Prairie-Brief tornado touched down 1 W of Pretty Prairie.
May 2018HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
June 2014HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
July 2013HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
July 2013HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
April 2006HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
April 2006Funnel CloudPretty Prairie-no account filed
June 2006Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-no account filed
June 2005HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
June 2005HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
July 2005Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie-no account filed
June 2005HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
July 2005HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
May 2004HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
March 2003HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
March 2003HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
July 2003HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
March 2002HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
April 2002HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
April 2002HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
April 2002HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
June 2002HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
April 2001HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
April 2001HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
June 2001HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
September 2001HailPretty Prairie-no account filed
February 2000HailPretty Prairie-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Reno 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
Castleton6.6 miles14
Arlington11.6 miles13
Darlow11.7 miles13
Partridge13.5 miles13
Yoder13.7 miles13
Cruppers Corner13.8 miles13
Elmer13.9 miles13
Lerado13.9 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 Pretty PrairieAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1856265The 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 473788. 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.