Central City, Nebraska
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1899 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Lone Tree Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68826. The Survey maps it on the Central City West quadrangle. 3,039 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,699 feet above sea level.
On record in Central City
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 6 records
Martha Ellen Auditoriumlisted 1988
Heber Hord Houselisted 1987
Wright Morris Boyhood Houselisted 1980
Nelson Farmlisted 2009
Patterson Law Officelisted 1979
Riverside Park Dance Pavillionlisted 1998
Population over time
2 figuresCentral City grew from 2,934 to 3,039 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 | 2,934 | |
| 2020 | 3,039 | +105 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 14 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.
- 1899 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Broken Bow quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS Broken Bow quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Central City West quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
13 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Central City between 2008 and 2017, burning about 72 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 7 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 August 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 3 July 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 1 July 2017 | Fireworks | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 23 May 2008 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 19 March 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 18 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 12 March 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 11 March 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 74 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Central City in 74 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 43 hail, 19 thunderstorm wind, 5 heavy rain, 4 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Hail | Central City | $1,000,000 | no account filed |
| April 1994 | Tornado (F1) | Central City | $500,000 | A tornado touched down near the Platte River three miles south of Central City and then moved north to the east edge of town where it lifted back into the clouds. Outbuildings were damaged and tree tops were twisted off at three separate farms. The tornado blew the roof off of an auto body shop on the east edge of town. |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $500,000 | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Tornado (EF0) | Central City | $400,000 | A tornado touched down in rural portions of Merrick County a few miles northwest of Central City, with a maximum estimated wind speed of 80 MPH along a 4-mile path. The most noteworthy damage occurred at a large cattle company feedlot, where a large portion of a roof was blown off of a confinement barn, several outdoor pens and livestock shades were destroyed, and a few head of cattle were injured and had to be euthanized. In addition, several irrigation pivots were overturned. Some tree damage was also noted along the path of the tornado. At one farmstead, the home suffered gutter damage and an unoccupied tractor parked nearby had its windows blown out. There was also some hail damage to crops in roughly a 2x2 mile area. |
| October 2001 | Tornado (F2) | Central City | $300,000 | Tornado crossed from Merrick County into Nance County. |
| August 2007 | Hail | Central City | $250,000 | Hail ranged in size from 1.75 to 2.75 inches in diameter. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Central City | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Central City | $150,000 | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $100,000 | Wind gusts estimated at 70 MPH resulted in tree damage in Central City as well as in the Willow Bend Lake area. The main tree damage occurred in the Willow Bend Lake area, where large tree limbs were knocked down and a 90 foot tree was uprooted, clipping the corner of the roof of a nearby home. Boats were also pulled loose from structures on the shore. |
| May 2000 | Lightning | Central City | $100,000 | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $75,000 | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Central City | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Central City | $45,000 | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $25,000 | A wind gust of 65 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located two miles south-southeast of Central City. Tree damage was reported in Central City, including a few larger downed branches. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $25,000 | Tree damage was reported in the area, including downed limbs which damaged a home, and a power pole was also damaged. |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $25,000 | Tree limbs were downed in the area. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $25,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in tree damage in Central City. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $25,000 | Wind gusts estimated near 60 MPH knocked down tree limbs up to 5 inches in diameter. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Central City | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Central City | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Central City | $20,000 | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Lightning | Central City | $12,000 | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $10,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH knocked down a few tree limbs in town. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $10,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in some tree damage in Central City, with power line and pole damage also reported. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $10,000 | Winds knocked down large tree limbs and caused power outages across town. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Central City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Flash Flood | Central City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Central City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located four miles north of Central City. |
| August 2017 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | A 24-hour precipitation amount of 3.03 inches was recorded 2 miles northeast of Central City. |
| August 2017 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | A 24-hour precipitation amount of 3.03 inches was recorded 1 mile north-northeast of Central City. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Central City | - | Quarter size hail occurred 2 miles southwest of Central City on Highway 30. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Central City | - | Ground was almost completely covered by nickel size hail. |
| May 2013 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | A storm total rainfall of 3.03 inches was reported by a Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network Observer. |
| October 2013 | Hail | Central City | - | Nickel size hail was ongoing at the time of the report. |
| October 2013 | Hail | Central City | - | This report of nickel size hail was received via Facebook. |
| October 2013 | Hail | Central City | - | This report of quarter size hail was received via an NERAIN (Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network) observer. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 MPH. |
| July 2011 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | Total rainfall over the past 24 hours of 3.64 inches was reported by a Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network observer. |
| May 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Central City | - | Brief touchdown with no damage. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| April 2013 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Central City | - | 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 Central City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q955593 | 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 828051. 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.




