Sanostee, New Mexico
19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Shiprock-Sanostee census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87461. The Survey maps it on the Sanostee East quadrangle. 322 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,007 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresSanostee fell from 429 to 322 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 429 | |
| 2010 | 371 | -58 (-14%) |
| 2020 | 322 | -49 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 19 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.
- 1889 USGS Chaco quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Chaco quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS Sanostee quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Sanostee East quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Toadlena quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
12 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Sanostee between 1995 and 2020, burning about 28 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 4 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 July 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SANOSTEE 6 |
| 25 July 1995 | Smoking | 2.5 acres | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SANOSTEECK |
| 18 July 2020 | Natural | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SANOSTEE 2 |
| 10 July 2016 | Debris and open burning | 4.6 acres | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SANOSTEE 7 |
| 23 June 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SANOSTEE #5 |
| 7 May 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SANOSTEE 3 |
| 6 May 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SANOSTEE 1 |
| 4 May 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | PORCUPINE CYN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Sanostee: 1 producer, 1 occurrence. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Niobium (Columbium), Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, Iron, Thorium, Niobium (Columbium), REE. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanostee Deposit | Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, Iron, Thorium, Niobium (Columbium), REE | Occurrence | 1955 | |
| Sanostee Prospect | Niobium (Columbium) | Producer |
Storms near this place
1 since 2024Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sanostee in 1 storm report in 2024: 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sanostee | $2,000 | Thunderstorm outflow winds partially removed the roof of a residence in Little Water, New Mexico. Time estimated based on limited radar data. Property damage cost estimated. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tocito | 5.2 miles | 19 | |
| Little Water | 8.1 miles | 20 | |
| Toadlena | 13.0 miles | 18 | |
| Newcomb | 13.1 miles | 20 | |
| Two Grey Hills | 13.5 miles | 18 | |
| Sheep Springs | 21.3 miles | 18 | |
| Rattlesnake | 23.1 miles | 20 | |
| Crystal | 26.6 miles | 19 |
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 Sanostee | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1640647 | 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 902349. 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.







