Towanda, Kansas
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Towanda Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67144. It stands on Spring Branch. The Survey maps it on the El Dorado SW quadrangle. 1,447 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,293 feet above sea level.
On record in Towanda
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
- Towanda Masonic Lodge No. 30 A.F. and A.M.listed 2004
- Whitewater Falls Stock Farmlisted 2014
Population over time
2 figuresTowanda fell from 1,450 to 1,447 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,450 | |
| 2020 | 1,447 | -3 (-0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1888 USGS Eldorado quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1955 USGS Wichita quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Wichita quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS El Dorado SW quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
99 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 99 fires within 5 miles of Towanda between 2006 and 2020, burning about 12,957 acres in total. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 |
| Debris and open burning | 33 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 228 |
| 28 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 226 |
| 25 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Butler County | 986 |
| 10 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Butler County | 192 |
| 7 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 183 |
| 28 August 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 243 |
| 18 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 1946 |
| 9 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Butler County | 156 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 64 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Towanda in 64 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 32 hail, 20 thunderstorm wind, 6 heavy rain, 3 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1999 | Flash Flood | Towanda | $500,000 | Major flash flooding occurred in Northwest Butler County along Four Mile Creek, a tributary of the Whitewater River. Several houses were reported in high water. In Towanda, the torrential rains caused widespread street flooding. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | $50,000 | Mobile home received considerable roof damage and a shed was blown over. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | $5,000 | Powerlines were downed in the Towanda area. |
| March 1993 | Hail | Towanda | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Towanda | $3,000 | The tornado touched down briefly in an open field and then downed a few trees. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | $3,000 | Power pole was blown down. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | $2,000 | Tree damage and building damage near southwest 40th and Sante Fe Lake Road. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | $1,000 | Awnings were blown off, and two-inch diameter tree limbs were snapped. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Towanda | - | Report was relayed via emergency management. Street flooding in usual locations was also reported. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | This was a measured report from a personal weather station. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | Sporadic tree limbs were down across Towanda. All limbs appeared to be less than five inches in diameter. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | Several tree limbs were down across town in excess of 10 inches in diameter. |
| July 2023 | Heavy Rain | Towanda | - | A mesonet station measured 4.82 inches of rainfall in 12 hours. |
| November 2022 | Heavy Rain | Towanda | - | A Cocorahs observer reported 2.20 inches of rainfall. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | Towanda | - | The public mesonet station 1.5 miles west of Towanda reported 3.82 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. |
| May 2020 | Heavy Rain | Towanda | - | This was a 24 hour rainfall report of 3.27 inches. |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | A trained spotter reported the gust. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | Winds were estimated from 60 to 65 mph. |
| May 2016 | Hail | Towanda | - | Public report via KSN Channel 3 weather. |
| August 2013 | Flood | Towanda | - | A small amount of water was reported over some rural roads southwest of El Dorado. |
| April 2012 | Tornado (EF1) | Towanda | - | The tornado mainly moved over open country, however, one horse farm was impacted with minimal damage to several of their barns. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | Estimated gust reported by a trained spotter. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | Estimated gust reported by a trained spotter. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | A report of a railroad tie being picked up and damaging a fence. They also reported an aluminum flagpole being snapped in half and several tree limbs at least 3 inches in diameter on the ground. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | Powerlines were blown down. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | A 10-inch diameter tree limb was downed. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | A large tree was reported to be blown down and laying across the road. |
| May 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Towanda | - | Tornado moved northeast over open pasture land. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Towanda | - | The hail was reported on Highway 254. |
| September 2003 | Flash Flood | Towanda | - | Tawakoni Road flooded from 5 miles north of Highway 254 to Northwest 30th Street. Flood depth averaged 2 feet. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Heavy Rain | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Heavy Rain | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| March 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Hail | Towanda | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towanda | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Towanda | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1023029 | The 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 474579. 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.





