BlockBefore

Beatrice, Nebraska

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Beatrice City. It lies in ZIP code area 68310. It stands on Indian Creek. The Survey maps it on the Beatrice East quadrangle. 12,261 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,286 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Beatrice within Gage County

On record in Beatrice

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 12 of 20 shown

Every listing in Gage County

Population over time

2 figures

Beatrice fell from 12,459 to 12,261 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
201012,459
202012,261-198 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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

90 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 90 fires within 5 miles of Beatrice between 2000 and 2020, burning about 415 acres in total. 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined33
Debris and open burning28
Equipment and vehicle use8
Fireworks6
Arson/incendiarism4
Natural3
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Recreation and ceremony2
Smoking2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
27 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest ServiceSW75 AND SCOTT RD
27 August 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
22 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
15 August 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
13 August 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
5 July 2009Fireworksunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
4 July 2007Fireworksunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
3 July 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Gage County

Storms near this place

60 of 121 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Beatrice in 121 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 52 hail, 42 thunderstorm wind, 10 flash flood, 5 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 18 injuries. 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
April 2006LightningBeatrice1 killed, 3 hurtLightning struck and killed a 14 year-old female during a pick-up soccer game. Three others were injured, one seriously.
May 1996Tornado (F2)Beatrice15 hurt, $12,000,000no account filed
May 2007FloodBeatrice$650,000Rainfall of 4 to 5 inches fell over much of the Big Blue River basin in Gage county from Friday May 4th through Sunday May 6th, with 4.26 inches reported in Beatrice. The heavy rain caused the Big Blue River to flood with both the gage in Beatrice and near Barneston reporting above flood stage readings for a few days. In Beatrice the Big Blue River reached a 23.9 foot crest around 230 pm CDT on May 7th, flood stage 16 feet. The river first crossed flood stage in Beatrice around 815 am on May 6th and didn't drop below flood stage until 730 am on the 9th.|At Barneston the Big Blue River reached a 24.5 foot crest around 345 pm CDT on May 7th, flood stage is 20 feet. The river near Barneston was above flood stage from around 1000 pm CDT May 6th until 315 am on the 9th.|The river flooded agricultural farmland and county roads in the region. Seven county roads were flooded from Beatrice toward Blue Springs and Wymore. Highway 136 was also closed late May 6th through May 7th around the Beatrice area because of high water that also flooded a park and some streets in town causing around $135,000 worth of damage to the park and ballfields. Two businesses had to be evacuated in Beatrice. The flood waters also prompted 5000 sandbags to be placed around a historical museum to keep flood waters from damaging historic items. Also a grain elevator near Holmesville, several miles southeast of Beatrice, was also sandbagged to protect from the rising waters. Total damage from the storms that hit Gage county on May 5th and 6th amounted to around $650,000, most of which was due to flooding.
April 2001HailBeatrice$20,000Hail up to 1 inch in diameter damaged some windows in Beatrice including the marquee at the Cinema Centre on Court St. in Beatrice.
July 1997Flash FloodBeatrice$8,000Heavy rains enveloped a grain elevator and washed out a section of railroad tracks next to it.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindBeatrice$5,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph destroyed a machine shed south of Beatrice.
May 1995Tornado (F0)Beatrice$5,000An off duty police officer had truck thrown off the road into a ditch. The liner was ripped out of his vehicle.
April 1998LightningBeatrice$4,000no account filed
May 1996LightningBeatrice$1,000no account filed
April 2026HailBeatrice-Trained spotter report of hail measured up to 1 inch in diameter in Beatrice, NE.
April 2026HailBeatrice-Trained spotter report of hail measured up to 1.50 inches in diameter in Beatrice, NE.
April 2026HailBeatrice-Trained spotter report of hail measured up to 1.50 inch in diameter in Beatrice, NE.
July 2025Heavy RainBeatrice-Rainfall report received via social media of 2.50 inches of rain on the north side of Beatrice, NE.
July 2025Heavy RainBeatrice-Personal weather station report of 2.25 inches of rain.
July 2025Heavy RainBeatrice-Personal weather station report of 3.14 inches of rain.
April 2024HailBeatrice-The office received a delayed report from the public of hail ranging from 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-A 62 miles per hour wind gust was recorded by a personal weather station.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-A trained spotter reported a measured peak wind gust of 62 mph.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Emergency manger reported multiple large trees down.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Trained spotter reported multiple large trees down in Beatrice.
August 2023HailBeatrice-Fire Department reported wind driven 1-inch hail that stripped crops.
June 2022HailBeatrice-Trained spotter reported 1.5 inch hail.
June 2022HailBeatrice-Public reported 1.75 inch hail via mPing.
June 2022HailBeatrice-Emergency manager reported 1-inch hail.
June 2022HailBeatrice-Broadcast media received report and photo of 5 inch hail.
June 2022HailBeatrice-Public reported grapefruit sized hail.
June 2022HailBeatrice-Public reported via mPing 3.25 inch hail.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Beatrice AWOS measured a peak wind gust of 86 mph.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Public reported a large tree split due to severe storms.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Beatrice Airport AWOS measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Public via social media reported a large tree down on power lines with additional trees down in Beatrice.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Beatrice ASOS measured a peak wind gust of 51 knots.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Public estimated 60 mph winds in Beatrice and reported lights flickering in town.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Public reported a 66 mph wind.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Public reported tree damage and limbs down.
June 2020Heavy RainBeatrice-Mesonet station recorded 24-hour rain total of 5.58 inches.
June 2020FloodBeatrice-River gage operated by Department of Natural Resources was above flood stage for approximately 30 hours.
April 2019HailBeatrice-The public reported 1.25 hail.
April 2019HailBeatrice-The public reported nickel size hail.
March 2019FloodBeatrice-Highway 136 bridge over the Big Blue River is being closed.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Law enforcement reported a tree was blown down in Beatrice.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Numerous trees and large limbs blown down in Beatrice. Some homes had small holes in their roofs.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Large tree branches were broken.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Trees and power lines were blown down by damaging winds on the west part of Beatrice. A professional building lost a small portion of it's roof.
September 2015Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-In addition to the penny size hail, the emergency manager reported winds to near 60 mph as well.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-The wind gust caused significant damage in and near Beatrice. Included in the damage were trees blowing into structures, at least two buildings destroyed just east of highway 77 on the north side of Beatrice, and transmission lines blown down.
October 2013Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-A wind gust to 61 mph was recorded at the Beatrice Airport. Local law enforcement indicated only a few small branches to around 1 inch in diameter were downed in town.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-The public reported winds gusts to near 60 mph in the city of Beatrice. This resulted in downed tree branches in the city of Beatrice.
May 2013Tornado (EF0)Beatrice-A NWS storm survey revealed a weak tornado developed about 2 miles southwest of Beatrice and traveled northeast for just over a mile before dissipating. The tornado was weak producing damage consistent with EF0 consisting of broken hardwood tree branches and minor damage to outbuildings.
May 2013Flash FloodBeatrice-Heavy thunderstorm rains of 2 to 3 inches fell across the city of Beatrice. This led to several intersections in the city to become flooded.
April 2012Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at around 60 mph downed large tree branches and damaged a barn in the area.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at close to 60 mph caused scattered tree damage in the Beatrice area.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Thunderstorm winds measured at 60 to 70 mph downed a few trees and numerous large tree limbs in town.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at close to 60 mph blew a tree onto a house in town causing damage.
July 2008Heavy RainBeatrice-Around 4.5 inches of rain was reported in a few hours time south of Beatrice.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindBeatrice-A bow echo that moved across the Beatrice area brought a thunderstorm wind gust that was measured at 61 mph at the Beatrice airport Awos. The strong winds caused scattered tree damage around town. However, the bow echo brought more substantial damage in two paths, one from a tornado on the north end of the cell north through northeast of town, and the other from straight line winds south through east of town.
October 2007HailBeatrice-Nickel size hail was reported by a spotter on the southwest part of town.
March 2007HailBeatrice-Hail up to nickel size was reported for around 5 minutes near Beatrice.
May 2007Flash FloodBeatrice-Heavy rainfall of an inch or two in an hour or so produced extensive street flooding in Beatrice.
May 2007HailBeatrice-Accompanied by winds around 60 mph.

Every storm recorded in Gage 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
Glenover1.0 miles11
Hoag5.7 miles11
Holmesville6.6 miles10
Ellis7.6 miles10
Pickrell7.7 miles10
Rockford7.9 miles11
Blue Springs10.0 miles10
Wymore11.0 miles10

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 BeatriceAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q813247The 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 827241. 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.