BlockBefore

Brownlee, Nebraska

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Loup precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69166. It stands on Pass Creek. The Survey maps it on the Brownlee Flats quadrangle. 13 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Brownlee within Cherry County

On record in Brownlee

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

Brownlee fell from 15 to 13 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
201015
202013-2 (-13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

4 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Brownlee between 2003 and 2020, burning about 204 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
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Natural1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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 June 2020Naturalunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
16 May 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
28 April 2011Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
21 October 2003Smoking200 acresValentine National Wildlife RefugeEATINGER

Every fire recorded in Cherry County

Storms near this place

60 of 219 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brownlee in 219 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 147 hail, 59 thunderstorm wind, 10 tornado, 2 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 1999Tornado (F2)Brownlee$50,000This was a continuation of the Thomas county tornado that initially touched down 3 miles north north west of Thedford and traveled into Cherry county.
June 1999Tornado (F1)Brownlee$50,000The tornado touched down west of highway 83, crossed the highway and destroyed a scale house at a cattle handling facility.
June 2015HailBrownlee$40,000Windows were broken out on north side of house, damaged vehicles, stripped tree leaves and hay crop damage.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$20,000Thunderstorm wind gusts, estimated at 80 MPH, overturned a semi on highway 83 at mile marker 174.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$15,000A trained spotter estimated wind speeds of 60 mph or greater that caused apples to be blown off trees, shingles to be blown off roofs, a chimney cap blown off, and large branches to be downed from live trees.
July 2025Tornado (EF0)Brownlee$10,000Tornado initially touched down in a shelter belt where it produced 1 to 3 inch diameter tree limb damage. The tornado tracked to the southeast approximately one mile where it broke windows at a farmstead.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$10,000Thunderstorm wind gusts to 70 MPH damaged trees in and around Brownlee.
June 1999HailBrownlee$7,000Golf ball sized hail was covering the ground.
July 2001HailBrownlee$6,000no account filed
June 2022HailBrownlee$5,000Broken windows on property.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$5,000Nearby road blocked by downed tree with other 20 inch diameter branches down.
June 1999Tornado (F0)Brownlee$5,000The tornado moved across open rangeland southeast of Brownlee with minor damage to fences and trees.
June 2009HailBrownlee$5,000no account filed
July 2001HailBrownlee$4,000no account filed
June 2008Tornado (EF0)Brownlee$3,000A tornado touched down briefly and took down 3 power poles.
June 2006HailBrownlee$3,000no account filed
June 2001HailBrownlee$3,000no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$2,000Wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH tore 3 to 4 inch diameter branches off of trees south of Valentine.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$2,000Trees were blown down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$2,000Six inch diameter tree limbs were broken off.
July 2009HailBrownlee$2,000no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$1,000Tree damage reported on a farmstead 12 miles southwest of Brownlee. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated at 65 MPH.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$1,000Four inch diameter tree limbs were broken off.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$1,000TREE LIMBS DOWN
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$1,000Large tree limbs down.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$1,000Tree branches down.
April 2007HailBrownlee$1,000no account filed
June 2006HailBrownlee$1,000no account filed
May 2005HailBrownlee$1,000no account filed
May 2001Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$1,000no account filed
March 2009Tornado (EF0)Brownlee$500The tornado touched down over open rangeland. The only damage was to a lean-to on a barn.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindBrownlee$100Lightning set two hay bales on fire.
August 2025HailBrownlee-Golf ball size hail and 57 mph winds reported at this location.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Thunderstorm wind gust of 65 MPH reported by a mesonet at this location.
August 2024HailBrownlee-Time estimated from radar.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH, reported at this location.
May 2023HailBrownlee-Quarter sized hail reported near mile marker 161 on highway 83.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Emergency manager reports blowing dust with winds estimated at 60 MPH.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Trained spotter estimated winds of 60 mph.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Public estimated a 60 mph wind gust.
May 2022HailBrownlee-Time estimated from radar.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Thunderstorm wind gusts measured by RAWS station VRFN1.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Public reported several large tree limbs downed due to severe wind gusts.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-A trained spotter reported thunderstorm winds of 60 mph at this location.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Estimated 60 mph winds.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Four to six inch diameter tree branches down.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-No details.
July 2020HailBrownlee-Public reported hail up to 2 inches in diameter near Brownlee.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-A trained weather spotter estimated 60 mph wind gusts north of Brownlee.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-A semi truck was blown over on U.S. Highway 83 near Brownlee with estimated 70 mph winds.
July 2019HailBrownlee-Public reported quarter size hail.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Large tree branches ranging in diameter from 8 to 12 inches reported down at this location from thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Department of roads site.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-No significant damage reported from this wind gust.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Report of small hail along with severe thunderstorm wind gust.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Thunderstorm wind gust estimated to be at least 70 MPH.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Thunderstorm wind gusts of 70 MPH estimated at this location.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Visibility reduced to zero with pastures flooded.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH along with nickle sized hail.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindBrownlee-A 12 inch diameter tree was uprooted along with roof damage to a shed.

Every storm recorded in Cherry 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
Conterra11.0 miles9
Cascade14.7 miles9
Piercy Place16.1 miles10
Hartgraves Place19.1 miles10
Kennedy20.6 miles9
Falter Place21.3 miles9
Simeon23.0 miles9
Elsmere24.8 miles9

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 BrownleeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q8252718The 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 827691. 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.