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Ruby, Washington

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Conconully-Riverside census division. It lies in ZIP code area 98840. It lies near Arlington Ridge. The Survey maps it on the Ruby Hill quadrangle.

Ruby within Okanogan County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 11 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

69 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 69 fires within 5 miles of Ruby between 1992 and 2020, burning about 738 acres in total. 31 started naturally. 1 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
Natural31
Recreation and ceremony11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Debris and open burning8
Fireworks3
Smoking2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Other causes1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
7 September 2009Natural1.0 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersWRIGHT MOUNTAIN
7 September 1992Smokingunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
6 September 2011Recreation and ceremony2.3 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersROCK CREEK
6 September 1996Other causesunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
5 September 2013Naturalunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersARLINGTON RIDGE
5 September 2013Natural2.0 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersPRETTY PEACOCK
4 September 2013Naturalunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersB STREET
28 September 2004Recreation and ceremony140 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersSTRAIGHT SCOTCH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Okanogan County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 73 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 73 workings within 5 miles of Ruby: 23 unknowns, 22 occurrences, 17 past producers, 7 producers. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Silver, Copper, Lead, Gold. 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
ArlingtonSilver, Copper, Lead, Gold, ZincProducer1887
ArlingtonZinc, Silver, Copper, Gold, LeadPast ProducerVein
ArlingtonSilver, Antimony, Copper, Gold, LeadProducerChalcopyrite, Pyrargyrite, Pyrite, Sphalerite, Tetrahedrite
Arlington MineSilver, Gold, CopperPast Producer1887, 1893
Berney PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Brown LakeChromium, NickelUnknown
DorianMica, ChromiumUnknown
First ThoughtSilver, Lead, Copper, ZincPast ProducerVein
First Thought MineSilver, Lead, Copper, ZincPast Producer1886, 1892, 1925
First Thought MineZinc, Silver, Lead, CopperPast Producer1886, 1892

Every working recorded in Okanogan County

Storms near this place

9 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ruby in 9 storm reports between 2012 and 2023: 5 debris flow, 2 flood, 1 hail, 1 heavy rain. 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 2012Debris FlowRuby$30,000A stationary thunderstorm anchored just southeast of Conconully, WA dumped well over an inch of rainfall. This resulted in a large debris flow along Salmon Creek Road between milepost seven and nine.
April 2018Debris FlowRuby$10,000Salmon Creek Road was closed for three days due to mud covering the roadway. The mud came off of a burn scarred hillside and was 4 feet deep in places.
June 2016Debris FlowRuby$6,000A number of thunderstorms producing intense rain on the Lime Belt burn scar area resulted in a debris flow. The heavy rain washed mud, large rock, and other debris down a roadside ditch and over the roadway into field at Johnson Creek which is about 6 miles southeast of Conconully, WA. It also covered area with small hail. It was reported that estimated rainfall rates approached over one inch in 25 minutes.
October 2016Debris FlowRuby$700The Okanogan County Emergency Manager reported a minor debris flow on Rock Creek Road west of Okanogan, Washington. The time of the debris flow was estimated.
May 2023FloodRuby$250Buzzard Lake Road closed from a mudslide on Neville Ridge. No rainfall reports in the area. Increased snow melt and rain showers likely cause of debris flow.
May 2023FloodRuby$250Loup Loup Canyon road closed at rock lake road due to rocks and debris on the roadway. Raws located at 48.41361, -119.77361 did not record any precip.
July 2022Heavy RainRuby-Loup Loup rain gauge recorded 0.94 of rain in 2 hours.
August 2021Debris FlowRuby-Heavy rainfall, with reports of 0.40 - 0.50 in one hour, occurred in the early evening hours of August 20th outside the town of Conconully. The brief heavy rainfall lead to 4 to 6 inches of debris flow on the roadway. Some local observation sites reported a total 0.75 - 1.25 of rainfall after a long, evening of showers. Additionally due to the heavy rain, a roadway in Twisp was covered in mud and gravel. There were CoCoRaHS and spotter reports of over 2.0 of rain in Twisp that evening.
July 2012HailRuby-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Okanogan 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
Loop Loop (historical)3.3 miles11
Conconully4.3 miles12
Brown Lake4.3 miles11
Mowich Illahee8.4 miles13
Epley (historical)10.2 miles12
Riverside11.6 miles11
Okanogan12.1 miles12
Omak12.1 miles12

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1525267. 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.