Sanish, North Dakota
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the West Mountrail unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 58763. The Survey maps it on the Sanish quadrangle. It stands 2,119 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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.
- 1953 USGS Watford City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Watford City quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Sanish quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1967 USGS Watford City quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Parshall quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
330 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 330 fires within 5 miles of Sanish between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,656 acres in total. 76 started naturally. 20 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Fireworks | 78 |
| Natural | 76 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 46 |
| Debris and open burning | 40 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 23 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 20 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 18 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 16 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Fort Berthold Agency | MATTSON |
| 5 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Fort Berthold Agency | WHITE LODGE |
| 29 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Fort Berthold Agency | THIRD STREET |
| 28 September 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Fort Berthold Agency | LITTLE PATCH |
| 27 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Fort Berthold Agency | NAGEL |
| 27 September 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 3.0 acres | Fort Berthold Agency | FORT |
| 25 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | North Dakota State Forest Service | UNKNOWN |
| 25 September 2013 | Natural | 3.0 acres | Fort Berthold Agency | DRAGSWOLF |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Sanish: 1 unknown. None of them 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountrail County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
26 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sanish in 26 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 11 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 4 flood, 2 funnel cloud. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | $150,000 | A grain bin was blown off its foundation and into a wheat field. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | $100,000 | The end tower of an irrigation pivot was blown over and extensive crop damage occurred. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | $50,000 | Twenty five power poles were either damaged, broken, or leaning. At one point 1,300 electrical meters were without power. |
| May 2011 | Flood | Sanish | $50,000 | See the event episode narrative for details. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | $15,000 | A large machine shed had its metal doors pushed in and damaged by the strong winds. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Sanish | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | $5,000 | Numerous tree branches larger than six inches in diameter were broken. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | $3,000 | Large hail accompanied the strong winds. Damage was not significant. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated by fire department personnel. |
| July 2014 | Funnel Cloud | Sanish | - | A funnel cloud persisted for several minutes before dissipating. The same storm produced a brief EF0 tornado in northeast McKenzie County earlier. |
| June 2011 | Flood | Sanish | - | See the event episode narrative for details. |
| July 2011 | Flood | Sanish | - | See the event episode narrative for details. |
| August 2011 | Flood | Sanish | - | See the event episode narrative for details. |
| October 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Sanish | - | A waterspout formed over Lake Sakakawea near New Town. It did not form from a thunderstorm. Several factors contributed to the formation of this waterspout. Low pressure over the state was already producing upward motion and large scale circulation in the atmosphere. Cumulus clouds associated with a cold front passing through the area were producing snow showers. The combination of very cold air, in the upper 20s, and relatively mild water, near 60 degrees, caused significant instability in the lower several thousand feet of the atmosphere over the lake. This instability enhanced the instability associated with the low pressure and snow showers and changed atmospheric conditions over the lake. Strong surface winds interacting with the terrain around the lake may have formed a small vortex of rotating air that translated onto the lake. This vortex may have been stretched vertically by the updraft of the snow showers, leading to the waterspout forming. The water spout remained over the lake and there was no damage. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Funnel Cloud | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | Sanish | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Sanish | - | 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 Sanish | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14708384 | 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 1031354. 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.




