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Alma, Nebraska

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Alma City. It lies in ZIP code area 68920. It stands on Cook Creek. The Survey maps it on the Alma quadrangle. 1,043 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,975 feet above sea level.

Alma within Harlan County

On record in Alma

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Alma fell from 1,133 to 1,043 between 2010 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.

YearPeople Change
20101,133
20201,043-90 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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

15 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Alma between 2007 and 2020, burning about 30 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None 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
Debris and open burning5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Natural1

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
1 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 August 2016Debris and open burning3.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 August 2016Debris and open burning4.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
25 August 2013Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
14 August 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 March 2007Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
24 March 2008Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
18 March 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Harlan County

Storms near this place

47 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alma in 47 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 28 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 3 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
June 2014Thunderstorm WindAlma$2,000,000The line of thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts up near 80 MPH continued into Harlan County. Damage was reported in the Alma, Republican City and Harlan County Dam areas. Large tree limbs near 8 to 12 inches in diameter were downed. On the south side of Harlan County Lake near Patterson Harbor, a shelter and dock for multiple boats were damaged and at least 4 boats were rammed onto the shore. A camping trailer was blown over onto a vehicle. In Republican City, another trailer with a pontoon boat was blown onto its side.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindAlma$150,000no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindAlma$100,000no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindAlma$60,000no account filed
December 2021Thunderstorm WindAlma$50,000Wind damage was reported in Alma, including downed tree limbs, some shingle and roof damage, power lines downed, and small outbuilding damage.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindAlma$25,000Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated to be 60 to 70 mph in Alma, along with very heavy rain.
June 1997HailAlma$25,000no account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindAlma$15,000Wind gusts estimated at 60 mph knocked down several trees.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindAlma$10,000Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in tree damage in Alma, including several large downed limbs.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindAlma$10,000no account filed
September 2012HailAlma$8,000no account filed
August 2021Thunderstorm WindAlma$5,000Two trees were reported blown down in Alma.
July 2008HailAlma$5,000Heavy rain and pea to quarter size hail causing visibility near zero.
May 2007HailAlma$5,000no account filed
July 2000HailAlma$2,000no account filed
May 2024Thunderstorm WindAlma-A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located three miles north-northwest of Alma.
May 2023HailAlma-Hail up to the size of half dollars was reported in the area.
April 2022HailAlma-Ping pong ball to golf ball size hail was reported.
April 2022Tornado (EFU)Alma-As captured by storm chaser video, this tornado briefly touched down in open country approximately six miles southwest of Alma. No damage was reported.
April 2022Heavy RainAlma-Unofficial mesonet reported 3.96 of rain during this 4-hour period.
August 2021Heavy RainAlma-An unofficial personal weather station measured 4.76 of rain between 5 p.m. and midnight CDT.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindAlma-A wind gust of 62 MPH was recorded by a mesonet station located 2 miles north-northwest of Alma.
August 2011Heavy RainAlma-Storm total rainfall of 3.20 inches was reported by a Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network observer.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindAlma-Wind gusts estimated at 60 mph.
May 2004Tornado (F0)Alma-A tornado was reported by a storm chaser. It was down only briefly.
May 1993Tornado (F1)Alma-A tornado touched down briefly just south of Alma. Funnel clouds were also noted.
June 2024HailAlma-no account filed
May 2023HailAlma-no account filed
October 2023HailAlma-no account filed
April 2022HailAlma-no account filed
June 2018HailAlma-no account filed
June 2018HailAlma-no account filed
August 2015HailAlma-no account filed
April 2013HailAlma-no account filed
September 2012HailAlma-no account filed
May 2010HailAlma-no account filed
May 2010HailAlma-no account filed
October 2007HailAlma-no account filed
May 2003HailAlma-no account filed
June 2002HailAlma-no account filed
April 2001HailAlma-no account filed
August 2001HailAlma-no account filed
June 1999HailAlma-no account filed
May 1998HailAlma-no account filed
June 1996HailAlma-no account filed
July 1995HailAlma-no account filed
July 1995HailAlma-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Harlan 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
Orleans5.4 miles13
Republican City7.5 miles13
Flynn Junction8.5 miles13
Huntley8.6 miles13
Stamford12.5 miles13
Mascot15.1 miles14
Ragan15.2 miles13
Oxford Junction15.7 miles13

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 AlmaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q963116The 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 826967. 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.

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.