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Brainard, Nebraska

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1899 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Oak Creek Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68626. The Survey maps it on the Brainard quadrangle. 336 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,673 feet above sea level.

Brainard within Butler County

On record in Brainard

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Brainard grew from 330 to 336 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
2010330
2020336+6 (+2%)

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

8 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Brainard between 2010 and 2020, burning about 138 acres in total. None 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
Equipment and vehicle use3
Debris and open burning3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2

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
22 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
14 September 2012Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 April 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 April 2011Debris and open burning80 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
16 March 2011Equipment and vehicle use20 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 February 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
2 December 2011Debris and open burning2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
27 November 2010Debris and open burning10 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Butler County

Storms near this place

22 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brainard in 22 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 2 tornado, 1 flash 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1995Thunderstorm WindBrainard$15,000Wind damage to trees and building destroyed.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBrainard-Personal weather station measured wind gust of 65 mph along the outflow boundary of a thunderstorm.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindBrainard-Photos shared via social media of a destroyed outbuilding and a large, downed tree branch which did damage to the roof of a home. Time estimated based on radar.
April 2024Funnel CloudBrainard-The Butler County Emergency Manager reported a funnel cloud just to the southwest of Brainard.
May 2024Tornado (EF0)Brainard-This brief tornado touched down a quarter mile north of 28 Road and a quarter mile west of Q Road, and tracked east for approximately two-thirds of a mile before dissipating. On the west side of Q road, a center pivot was overturned. Several hardwood trees were blown down on the east side of Q road. This tornado had peak estimated winds of 84 miles per hour, with a max width of 50 yards and an estimated mean width of 40 yards.
April 2024Tornado (EFU)Brainard-Trained spotters with video and photo confirmation reported a tornado lasting approximately 1 minute over open fields. There was no damage found from this tornado, so its width and wind speeds were not able to be accurately estimated.
May 2019Heavy RainBrainard-Measured 2.46 inches south of Brainerd.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindBrainard-Trees and power lines were down in Brainard.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindBrainard-Tree branches, some 6 to 8 inches in diameter were downed at the high school.
June 2012HailBrainard-Hail just under quarter-size was reported east of Brainard.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindBrainard-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 70 mph downed numerous large trees southeast of Brainard.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindBrainard-A trained spotter estimated that thunderstorm winds gusted over 70 mph north of Brainard. The winds caused tree damage in the area.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindBrainard-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated up to 80 mph knocked down trees and damaged buildings 2 miles east of Brainard.
August 2002HailBrainard-Hail from nickel to golfball size covered the ground.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindBrainard-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph downed a few trees southeast of Brainard. Damage was reported by a cooperative observer.
May 1998Flash FloodBrainard-Thunderstorms produced up to 6 inches of rain in a short time causing some flash flooding.
May 2019HailBrainard-no account filed
March 2009HailBrainard-no account filed
September 2006HailBrainard-no account filed
June 2001HailBrainard-no account filed
May 1996HailBrainard-no account filed
May 1996HailBrainard-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Butler 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
Loma5.1 miles11
Dwight7.0 miles11
Bruno7.3 miles11
David City8.2 miles11
Garrison8.7 miles11
Abie10.8 miles11
Millerton11.2 miles11
Octavia11.7 miles11

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 BrainardAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2196172The 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 827616. 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.