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Seward, Kansas

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1985. It stands in North Seward Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67576. The Survey maps it on the Seward quadrangle. 41 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,909 feet above sea level.

Seward within Stafford County

Population over time

2 figures

Seward fell from 64 to 41 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
201064
202041-23 (-36%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

17 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Seward between 1997 and 2018, burning about 337 acres in total. 2 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/undetermined11
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Debris and open burning2
Natural2

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
21 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresStafford County88
3 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service59
27 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreStafford County70
24 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresKansas Forest Service64
6 June 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreStafford County50
4 June 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreStafford County48
22 June 2018Naturalunder an acreKansas Forest Service55
19 June 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined51 acresQuivira National Wildlife RefugeEDEN VALLEY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Stafford County

Storms near this place

60 of 61 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Seward in 61 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 33 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 8 tornado, 1 flood. 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 2008Thunderstorm WindSeward$1,500Two power poles were blown down and there were numerous tree branches broken.
April 2025HailSeward-Received a mPING report of 1 inch hail.
May 2017Funnel CloudSeward-The funnel never fully condensed more than half way to the surface.
May 2017Tornado (EF0)Seward-This weak and brief tornado moved north-northwest.
May 2017Tornado (EF0)Seward-This weak and brief tornado moved north-northwest.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindSeward-Power lines were blown down.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindSeward-Tree limbs were blown down by winds that were estimated to be at least 60 MPH.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindSeward-Large tree limbs were blown down by winds estimated to be 60 to 70 MPH.
April 2012Tornado (EF1)Seward-This tornado did EF1 damage to trees and power poles.
July 2011HailSeward-Thunderstorm wind gusts were also estimated to be 50 to 55 mph that accompanied the hail.
April 2011HailSeward-Penny to golf ball sized hail was covering the road.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindSeward-A tank battery was damaged and a shed top was blown off.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindSeward-A grain bin was displaced about 1/4 of a mile.
July 2008Tornado (EF0)Seward-A landspout tornado was visible from weak thunderstorms in the area.
July 2008Tornado (EF0)Seward-A second landspout was visible but did not cause any damage.
May 2007FloodSeward-Major flooding in Seward. Many streets under water.
May 2007Tornado (EF0)Seward-This weak tornado did not cause any damage.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindSeward-Two inch diameter tree limbs were broken.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindSeward-An old tree was blown down.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindSeward-Brief power outages reported by law enforcement.
May 2001Tornado (F0)Seward-Brief tornado.
May 1993Tornado (F0)Seward-Tornado briefly touched down in open farmland with no damage or injuries reported.
July 2023HailSeward-no account filed
May 2019HailSeward-no account filed
May 2017HailSeward-no account filed
May 2017HailSeward-no account filed
June 2017HailSeward-no account filed
June 2017HailSeward-no account filed
August 2017HailSeward-no account filed
May 2014HailSeward-no account filed
May 2014HailSeward-no account filed
May 2014HailSeward-no account filed
May 2014HailSeward-no account filed
April 2013HailSeward-no account filed
July 2013HailSeward-no account filed
May 2011HailSeward-no account filed
April 2011HailSeward-no account filed
April 2010HailSeward-no account filed
July 2009HailSeward-no account filed
June 2008HailSeward-no account filed
April 2008Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
April 2008HailSeward-no account filed
June 2008HailSeward-no account filed
April 2008HailSeward-no account filed
April 2008HailSeward-no account filed
July 2007HailSeward-no account filed
June 2006Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
June 2006Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
July 2005HailSeward-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
June 2004HailSeward-no account filed
April 2002Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
April 2002HailSeward-no account filed
June 2002HailSeward-no account filed
June 2002HailSeward-no account filed
June 2001HailSeward-no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindSeward-no account filed
June 2000HailSeward-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Stafford 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
Radium5.2 miles15
Hudson8.7 miles15
St. John12.3 miles15
Dillwyn15.0 miles14
Macksville17.7 miles14
Stafford18.1 miles14
Zenith22.1 miles13
Neola26.1 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 SewardAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2325508The 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 475874. 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.