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Ulysses, Kansas

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Lincoln Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67880. The Survey maps it on the Ulysses quadrangle. 5,788 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,051 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Ulysses within Grant County

On record in Ulysses

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Ulysses fell from 6,161 to 5,788 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
20106,161
20205,788-373 (-6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 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

19 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Ulysses between 2015 and 2016, burning about 63 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/undetermined11
Fireworks3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Debris and open burning2
Smoking1

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
30 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service67
16 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service65
14 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service64
5 July 2015Fireworksunder an acreKansas Forest Service56
5 July 2015Fireworks2.0 acresKansas Forest Service57
4 July 2015Fireworksunder an acreKansas Forest Service55
20 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service61
3 May 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Service32

Every fire recorded in Grant County

Storms near this place

60 of 277 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ulysses in 277 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 181 hail, 67 thunderstorm wind, 15 tornado, 7 heavy rain. The reports record 2 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
June 1996Thunderstorm WindUlysses2 hurt, $1,000,000no account filed
May 2005Tornado (F2)Ulysses$350,000This tornado traveled into Kearny county before roping out. At 2ne of Ulysses part of a barn roof was blown off and a large tree was uprooted. Several horses were slightly injured. Then at 5ne of Ulysses an abandoned mobile home was destroyed. At six miles northeast of Ulysses, two pivot sprinklers were mangled, large trees were snapped at the base and several power poles were destroyed. Several grain bins (full of wheat) were completely swept away and the grain was scattered for some distance. Remnants of the grain bins were not found in the local vicinity. Farther northeast along the track several more pivot sprinklers were destroyed. It is estimated that if this tornado had made a direct hit, it would have likely caused at least high-end F3 damage.
April 2001Tornado (F2)Ulysses$235,000Tornado crossed into Grant county from Stevens county at 1647. Three pivot sprinklers were destroyed, 2 grain bins, a silo, machine shed and horse trailer were also damaged or destroyed. A roof was taken off a building and an empty rail car was overturned.
September 1996Thunderstorm WindUlysses$100,000no account filed
June 2005Tornado (F1)Ulysses$50,000This tornado kicked up a lot of dirt and debris (tumble weeds). One pivot sprinkler was damaged. This tornado moved into Kearny county.
October 2006Tornado (F1)Ulysses$40,000This tornado moved west towards and into the city of Ulysses damaging the roof of the hospital and causing some tree damage.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindUlysses$25,000no account filed
May 2001Thunderstorm WindUlysses$20,000Roof blown off a house and a semi truck was blown over. No injuries.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindUlysses$15,000Roof blown off a house and also off a trailer house. Powe poles blown down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindUlysses$15,000Dry microburst produced high wind that took the roof off of one house and damaged numerous trees and power lines. Wind was probably over 100 knots.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindUlysses$5,000The wind damaged irrigation pipes and took down power poles.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindUlysses$1,000Two power poles were blown down.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindUlysses$500Large grain car was blown over.
June 1994HailUlysses$50no account filed
August 2025Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A mesonet site recorded a 81 mph wind gust.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A public report of a 63 mph wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Measured at the Ambient Weather Network site Videra.
July 2025HailUlysses-One inch diameter hail was reported by the public.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Public report of a 80 mph wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Emergency manager reported downed 4 to 6 inch tree limbs.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Public report of a bunch of big branches snapped blocking the road city had to come out with equipment and remove them.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Personal weather station Ambient Weather Network site: Videra Weather recorded a 75 mph gust.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Video of gustnado.
February 2023HailUlysses-Report received through social media with photos.
July 2020Heavy RainUlysses-Rainfall of 3.50 inches was observed.
May 2019Flash FloodUlysses-Flooding across many streets of Ulysses.
May 2019Flash FloodUlysses-Water on some streets was 3 feet deep stranding some motorists.
May 2019Funnel CloudUlysses-A small funnel cloud was visible underneath a shower.
September 2018Flash FloodUlysses-Water was up to door handles from severe street flooding.
August 2018Heavy RainUlysses-Rainfall of 3.52 inches was observed.
August 2018Heavy RainUlysses-Rainfall of 1.28 inches was observed.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
June 2017HailUlysses-Broken windows in Ulysses.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Winds were estimated to be at least 60 MPH.
April 2015HailUlysses-The hail covered the ground.
July 2015FloodUlysses-Fields were reported to be flooded and some of the runoff went across highway 25.
September 2015FloodUlysses-Water was flowing across Highway 25.
September 2015HailUlysses-Winds were also up to 50 MPH while the hail was falling.
September 2015Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
November 2015Tornado (EF0)Ulysses-This was a brief spin-up underneath the mesocyclone.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Several trees were blown down across the city.
June 2014HailUlysses-The hail lasted for over 10 minutes.
June 2014HailUlysses-A lot of quarter sized hail fell in Ulysses.
June 2014HailUlysses-The hail ranged from pea to quarter sized.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindUlysses-Several power poles were blown down along road H, just south of Highway 160.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A semi was blown off the road on the east side of Ulysses.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A garage roof was blown off by the high winds.
October 2011Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A semi was blown over and several power poles were blown down. Also the roof of an outbuilding was blown off.
October 2008Thunderstorm WindUlysses-The wind was measured at a KSNW weatherlab site.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindUlysses-The spotter also reported quarter sized hail with the 70 mph wind gusts.
August 2008HailUlysses-The spotter also reported 70 mph wind gusts.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A roof antenna was blown down along with some two inch diameter tree branches.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A roof was rolled back onto a trailer house and a large elm tree was blown down by the high wind.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindUlysses-A garage was destroyed by the high wind.
October 2006Tornado (F0)Ulysses-This tornado did not strike anything.
October 2006Tornado (F0)Ulysses-This tornado did not strike anything.
October 2006Tornado (F0)Ulysses-This tornado did not strike anything.
October 2006Tornado (F0)Ulysses-This small tornado did not strike anything.
October 2006Tornado (F1)Ulysses-This small tornado damaged a shed and barn.
October 2006Tornado (F0)Ulysses-This small tornado moved south but did not do any damage.

Every storm recorded in Grant 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
Hickok6.8 miles14
Stano8.3 miles15
Ryus14.3 miles9

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 UlyssesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q510455The 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 471718. 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.