BlockBefore

Reading, Kansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1983. It stands in Reading Township. It lies in ZIP code area 66868. It stands on Duck Creek. The Survey maps it on the Reading quadrangle. 181 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,099 feet above sea level.

Reading within Lyon County

Population over time

2 figures

Reading fell from 231 to 181 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
2010231
2020181-50 (-22%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 14 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

20 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Reading between 2007 and 2018, burning about 1,113 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/undetermined9
Debris and open burning8
Equipment and vehicle use2
Other causes1

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
4 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service46
3 August 2018Debris and open burning10 acresKansas Forest Service008-048
2 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresKansas Forest Service45
8 April 2015Debris and open burning40 acresKansas Forest Service27
7 April 2015Debris and open burning10 acresKansas Forest Service26
4 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresKansas Forest Service015-018
11 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKansas Forest Service30
10 April 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreKansas Forest Service29

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lyon County

Storms near this place

33 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Reading in 33 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 21 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 death and 5 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 2011Tornado (EF3)Reading1 killed, 5 hurt, $2,280,000Another tornado developed 3 miles southwest of Reading. This tornado proceeded to hit the town of Reading producing EF3 damage in the city. The tornado continued on a path that took it into Osage County Kansas where it produced additional damage before lifting approximately 4 miles south of Osage City. A single story home in Reading was swept off its foundation. There were several two story homes with significant damage to the second story or completely removed. A well anchored mobile home was lofted and thrown 50 yards into a tree. Vehicles were rolled and large chemical tank was thrown 100 yards. Winds estimated at 140 mph.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindReading$1,000Strong winds did minor damage to a barn and a few sheds.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindReading-Report of power poles downed.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindReading-Roof partially removed from large outbuilding garage.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindReading-Tree limbs and power lines blown down and blocking roads.
May 2018HailReading-Delayed report via KVOE radio.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindReading-Multiple trees were uprooted within the city of Reading. Delayed report.
February 2009Thunderstorm WindReading-Tree branches reported to be flying around.
July 2008HailReading-Reports from both the public and trained spotters of hail one inch to one and a half inches in diameter were received. Wind driven hail broke a few windows on a spotter's home.
June 2008HailReading-Relayed by kvoe radio.
April 2003Heavy RainReading-Heavy rains of two to 4 inches in a short time caused some localized flooding in the Reading area.
April 2026HailReading-no account filed
April 2026HailReading-no account filed
April 2026HailReading-no account filed
May 2018HailReading-no account filed
May 2016HailReading-no account filed
March 2009Thunderstorm WindReading-no account filed
May 2009HailReading-no account filed
June 2009HailReading-no account filed
July 2008HailReading-no account filed
July 2008HailReading-no account filed
February 2007HailReading-no account filed
May 2006HailReading-no account filed
June 2005HailReading-no account filed
June 2005HailReading-no account filed
February 2004HailReading-no account filed
August 2004HailReading-no account filed
August 2004HailReading-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindReading-no account filed
May 2001HailReading-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindReading-no account filed
May 1997Thunderstorm WindReading-no account filed
May 1996HailReading-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lyon 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
Lang7.8 miles17
Miller8.1 miles14
Neosho Rapids10.5 miles16
Admire11.4 miles15
Emporia Junction13.4 miles18
Berkeley Hills14.2 miles18
Emporia14.3 miles18
Hartford14.6 miles16

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 ReadingAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2673322The 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 479585. 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.