Bertrand, Nebraska
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Precinct 3. It lies in ZIP code area 68927. The Survey maps it on the Bertrand quadrangle. 709 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,520 feet above sea level.
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Population over time
2 figuresBertrand fell from 750 to 709 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 750 | |
| 2020 | 709 | -41 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 16 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.
- 1896 USGS Lexington quadrangle1:125000
- 1899 USGS Lexington quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1955 USGS Grand Island quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Grand Island quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Grand Island quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Bertrand quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Kearney quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
17 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Bertrand between 1993 and 2020, burning about 396 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 burning | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 9 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 7 April 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 26 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 7 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 12 acres | Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District | PETERSON FIRE |
| 6 March 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 76 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 29 March 2016 | Natural | 20 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 21 March 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
58 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bertrand in 58 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 32 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 2 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $175,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be as high as 70 MPH resulted in blowing dust and visibility dropping to near zero. A few large tree branches were downed in town, while just outside of town, a few irrigation pivots suffered damage. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Bertrand | $125,000 | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $100,000 | A wind gust of 64 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located in Bertrand. There was an irrigation pivot tipped over near the county line west of town. |
| September 2005 | Hail | Bertrand | $100,000 | 70 mph winds were also reported by local law enforcement in this area. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Bertrand | $100,000 | no account filed |
| October 2023 | Tornado (EF0) | Bertrand | $90,000 | A brief tornado occurred in northwest Phelps County and was on the ground just shy of two miles. The tornado upset the end of one center irrigation pivot before rolling across |a cattle feed lot. At the feed lot, the tornado damaged some trees, caused minor roof damage, blew out vehicle winds and lifted the cover from a small generator shed. The tornado likely lifted northeast of the feed lot. The estimated maximum wind speed of 80 MPH was based upon the tree damage and pivot damage. |
| July 2011 | Hail | Bertrand | $50,000 | Hail up to the size of ping pong balls was covering Highway 23 between Bertrand and Loomis. |
| July 2019 | Flash Flood | Bertrand | $25,000 | Radar estimates showed rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches fell over the warned area in a short amount of time, with up to 5 inches measured in Bertrand. Emergency management reported that flash flooding occurred in Bertrand and the surrounding areas, including the headwaters area of the Turkey Creek north of Edison, which resulted in a rise above minor flood stage during the daytime hours on the 5th. |
| May 2012 | Hail | Bertrand | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Bertrand | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Flash Flood | Bertrand | $10,000 | Several county roads were flooded and were closed in between Loomis and Bertrand. |
| July 2006 | Hail | Bertrand | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $8,000 | no account filed |
| October 2013 | Flood | Bertrand | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | $2,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in downed tree limbs in the area, including one limb closer to 10 inches in diameter. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | A wind gust of 68 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located eight miles south-southwest of Overton. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located seven miles south-southwest of Overton. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Bertrand | - | Penny to quarter size hail was reported in Bertrand. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | A wind gust of 61 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located in Bertrand. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a Nebraska Mesonet site located six miles south-southeast of Overton. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | A wind gust of 62 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located six miles south-southeast of Overton. |
| April 2017 | Hail | Bertrand | - | Quarter to golf ball size hail was reported. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | Wind gusts were estimated to be between 65 and 70 MPH. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Bertrand | - | Heavy rainfall with near zero visibility was reported at the time of the hail. |
| October 2011 | Heavy Rain | Bertrand | - | Total rainfall over the past 24 hours of 5.28 inches was reported by a Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network observer. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | Wind gusts estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Bertrand | - | This tornado was briefly on the ground and reported by amateur radio spotters. No damage was reported. |
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Bertrand | - | Trained spotters reported a weak tornado that started in northeast Gosper County and moved into northwest Phelps County. This tornado skipped across open country and caused no damage. The tornado lifted near the Platte River south of Odessa in northern Phelps County. |
| May 1993 | Hail | Bertrand | - | Golf ball-size hail fell one mile southwest of Bertrand and dime-size hail fell four miles south of Bertrand. |
| May 1993 | Hail | Bertrand | - | Dime-size hail and strong winds were stripping leaves from trees. |
| June 2022 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| September 2013 | Flood | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Hail | Bertrand | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Bertrand | - | 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.
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 Bertrand | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3291419 | 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 827352. 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.






