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Lignite, North Dakota

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1982. It stands in Lignite City. It lies in ZIP code area 58752. The Survey maps it on the Portal quadrangle. 141 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,982 feet above sea level.

Lignite within Burke County

Population over time

2 figures

Lignite fell from 155 to 141 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
2010155
2020141-14 (-9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 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

3 since 2016

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Lignite between 2016 and 2020, burning about 11 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
Equipment and vehicle use2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
1 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceGANS
7 July 2016Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest Service2016014
10 June 2017Equipment and vehicle use10 acresNorth Dakota State Forest Service2017010

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Burke County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Lignite: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
John Roos PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
John Roos PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Knutson Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Burke County

Storms near this place

20 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lignite in 20 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 13 hail, 5 lightning, 2 thunderstorm wind. 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 2010Thunderstorm WindLignite$500,000Intense straight line thunderstorm winds resulted in a workover oil rig to blow over, causing substantial damage to the rig.
August 2006LightningLignite$250,000Lightning struck two salt water tanks at oil wells. One oil well 2 miles southeast of Lignite was struck at 715 AM CST, while another 2 miles northwest of Lignite was struck at 830 AM CST. Both strikes started fires, with fire crews unable to get close to the fires due to the intense heat. Loss in production was estimated at 15K per day. The 250K damage was to property.
June 1997LightningLignite$75,000Lightning struck a holding tank containing salt water. The resulting fire spread to other tanks before the fire could be brought under control. 4 tanks containing oil, 2 tanks containing salt water, and 2 empty tanks were lost. Damage amount estimated.
June 2002LightningLignite$30,000Lighntning struck the steeple of the Tonset Lutheran Church catching it on fire. The church was built in 1916.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindLignite$25,000A shop had its doors blown out, and a cable snapped on one side of a bi-fold garage door.
August 2006HailLignite-Very heavy rain also reported.
June 2003HailLignite-Heavy rain and strong winds accompanied the storm.
July 2001LightningLignite-Lightning ignited a 300 barrel tank containing 200 barrels of oil. This caused two other barrel tanks to ignite causing severe damage to the treater. The site was completely destroyed.
July 1998LightningLignite-Lightning ignited a 400 gallon oil storage tank.
August 2025HailLignite-no account filed
August 2024HailLignite-no account filed
August 2016HailLignite-no account filed
August 2016HailLignite-no account filed
July 2015HailLignite-no account filed
July 2013HailLignite-no account filed
June 2010HailLignite-no account filed
June 2010HailLignite-no account filed
June 2010HailLignite-no account filed
July 2009HailLignite-no account filed
July 1999HailLignite-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Burke 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
Sevenmile Corner1.5 miles7
Rival3.1 miles7
Portal8.2 miles7
Woburn8.3 miles6
Flaxton9.2 miles7
Stampede9.3 miles7
Columbus11.7 miles8
Kincaid11.9 miles8

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 LigniteAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2447055The 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 1029886. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.