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.
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 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.
- 1905 USGS Okanogan quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Okanogan quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Okanogan quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Okanogan quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Ruby Hill quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Omak quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
69 since 1992Regional 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 31 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Fireworks | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2009 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | WRIGHT MOUNTAIN |
| 7 September 1992 | Smoking | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 6 September 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.3 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | ROCK CREEK |
| 6 September 1996 | Other causes | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 5 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | ARLINGTON RIDGE |
| 5 September 2013 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | PRETTY PEACOCK |
| 4 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | B STREET |
| 28 September 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 140 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | STRAIGHT SCOTCH |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 73 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington | Silver, Copper, Lead, Gold, Zinc | Producer | 1887 | |
| Arlington | Zinc, Silver, Copper, Gold, Lead | Past Producer | Vein | |
| Arlington | Silver, Antimony, Copper, Gold, Lead | Producer | Chalcopyrite, Pyrargyrite, Pyrite, Sphalerite, Tetrahedrite | |
| Arlington Mine | Silver, Gold, Copper | Past Producer | 1887, 1893 | |
| Berney Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Brown Lake | Chromium, Nickel | Unknown | ||
| Dorian | Mica, Chromium | Unknown | ||
| First Thought | Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc | Past Producer | Vein | |
| First Thought Mine | Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc | Past Producer | 1886, 1892, 1925 | |
| First Thought Mine | Zinc, Silver, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | 1886, 1892 |
Storms near this place
9 since 2012Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2012 | Debris Flow | Ruby | $30,000 | A 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 2018 | Debris Flow | Ruby | $10,000 | Salmon 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 2016 | Debris Flow | Ruby | $6,000 | A 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 2016 | Debris Flow | Ruby | $700 | The 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 2023 | Flood | Ruby | $250 | Buzzard 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 2023 | Flood | Ruby | $250 | Loup 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 2022 | Heavy Rain | Ruby | - | Loup Loup rain gauge recorded 0.94 of rain in 2 hours. |
| August 2021 | Debris Flow | Ruby | - | 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 2012 | Hail | Ruby | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loop Loop (historical) | 3.3 miles | 11 | |
| Conconully | 4.3 miles | 12 | |
| Brown Lake | 4.3 miles | 11 | |
| Mowich Illahee | 8.4 miles | 13 | |
| Epley (historical) | 10.2 miles | 12 | |
| Riverside | 11.6 miles | 11 | |
| Okanogan | 12.1 miles | 12 | |
| Omak | 12.1 miles | 12 |
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.





