BlockBefore

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.

Sanish within Mountrail County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

330 since 1992

Regional 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
Fireworks78
Natural76
Missing data/not specified/undetermined46
Debris and open burning40
Equipment and vehicle use23
Arson/incendiarism20
Recreation and ceremony18
Misuse of fire by a minor16
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Smoking4
Other causes1

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
8 September 2019Naturalunder an acreFort Berthold AgencyMATTSON
5 September 2011Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresFort Berthold AgencyWHITE LODGE
29 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresFort Berthold AgencyTHIRD STREET
28 September 2018Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresFort Berthold AgencyLITTLE PATCH
27 September 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresFort Berthold AgencyNAGEL
27 September 2005Recreation and ceremony3.0 acresFort Berthold AgencyFORT
25 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceUNKNOWN
25 September 2013Natural3.0 acresFort Berthold AgencyDRAGSWOLF

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mountrail County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Mountrail County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Mountrail County

Storms near this place

26 since 2009

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2016Thunderstorm WindSanish$150,000A grain bin was blown off its foundation and into a wheat field.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSanish$100,000The end tower of an irrigation pivot was blown over and extensive crop damage occurred.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindSanish$50,000Twenty five power poles were either damaged, broken, or leaning. At one point 1,300 electrical meters were without power.
May 2011FloodSanish$50,000See the event episode narrative for details.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindSanish$15,000A large machine shed had its metal doors pushed in and damaged by the strong winds.
June 2016HailSanish$10,000no account filed
June 2020Thunderstorm WindSanish$5,000Numerous tree branches larger than six inches in diameter were broken.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindSanish$3,000Large hail accompanied the strong winds. Damage was not significant.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSanish-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated by fire department personnel.
July 2014Funnel CloudSanish-A funnel cloud persisted for several minutes before dissipating. The same storm produced a brief EF0 tornado in northeast McKenzie County earlier.
June 2011FloodSanish-See the event episode narrative for details.
July 2011FloodSanish-See the event episode narrative for details.
August 2011FloodSanish-See the event episode narrative for details.
October 2009Tornado (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 2025HailSanish-no account filed
July 2025Funnel CloudSanish-no account filed
June 2023HailSanish-no account filed
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSanish-no account filed
June 2020HailSanish-no account filed
June 2020HailSanish-no account filed
July 2019HailSanish-no account filed
July 2019HailSanish-no account filed
July 2018HailSanish-no account filed
July 2016HailSanish-no account filed
July 2014HailSanish-no account filed
June 2011HailSanish-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Mountrail 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
New Town3.0 miles7
Belden15.8 miles4
Epworth19.7 miles4
Parshall21.8 miles7
Ross23.3 miles4
Stanley25.1 miles5
Manitou25.1 miles4
Palermo30.3 miles4

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 SanishAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q14708384The 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.