BlockBefore

Brownson, Nebraska

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Sidney 4 precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69162. The Survey maps it on the Brownson quadrangle.

Brownson within Cheyenne County

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 8 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

24 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Brownson between 2012 and 2020, burning about 1,171 acres in total. 8 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
Natural8
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Debris and open burning3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Smoking2

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
13 September 2012Smoking1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
10 September 2017Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
5 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
23 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
8 July 2016Naturalunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 July 2020Natural10 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 July 2014Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
21 July 2012Smoking1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cheyenne County

Storms near this place

28 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brownson in 28 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 18 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. 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 1999HailBrownson$6,000,000no account filed
June 1997HailBrownson$5,000no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindBrownson-Mesonet near Brownson reported a 62 mph gust.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBrownson-UPR site 3 WNW of Brownson gusted 63mph.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBrownson-UPR site near Brownson gusted 58 MPH during a thunderstorm.
July 2025HailBrownson-Fire chief reports golf ball size hailstones.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBrownson-Trained spotter estimated wind gust.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBrownson-Mesonet station K1GW - Golf (Sidney) reported wind gust 4 miles north-northwest of Brownson, NE.
May 2015HailBrownson-Ping pong ball to golf ball sized hail was observed five miles northwest of Brownson.
May 2015HailBrownson-Half dollar size hail was observed 10 miles north of Brownson.
May 2015HailBrownson-Quarter to hen egg size hail was observed a mile south-southwest of Brownson.
May 2013HailBrownson-There were several reports of quarter size hail in Brownson.
May 2013HailBrownson-Golf ball size hail was reported six miles west of Sidney.
May 2013HailBrownson-Marble to quarter size hail was reported three miles east-northeast of Brownson.
June 2013Tornado (EF0)Brownson-A weak tornado touched down in open country south of Potter and Interstate 80. The tornado moved slightly west of due north, then dissipated a few minutes later. No damage was reported.
June 2013HailBrownson-Marble to golf ball size hail was reported at Highway 30 mile marker 48 east of Potter.
June 2012HailBrownson-Penny to quarter sized hail was reported west of Sidney.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindBrownson-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph 7 miles west-northwest of Sidney.
July 2010HailBrownson-Heavy rate of hail reported at spotter's location.
July 2003Tornado (F0)Brownson-Weak tornado reported over open country.
June 2022HailBrownson-no account filed
June 2022HailBrownson-no account filed
July 2020HailBrownson-no account filed
July 2010HailBrownson-no account filed
June 2009Thunderstorm WindBrownson-no account filed
June 2001HailBrownson-no account filed
March 1998HailBrownson-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindBrownson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cheyenne 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
Ordville (historical)2.2 miles8
Point of Rocks7.2 miles8
Mount Vernon7.2 miles8
Huntsman7.7 miles11
Sidney7.8 miles11
Lorenzo9.9 miles8
Potter10.9 miles8
Gurley12.0 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 BrownsonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q17512398The 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 827697. 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.