Clearwater, Nebraska
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Clearwater Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68726. The Survey maps it on the Clearwater quadrangle. 320 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,795 feet above sea level.
On record in Clearwater
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
Elkhorn River Bridgelisted 1992
Population over time
2 figuresClearwater fell from 419 to 320 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 | 419 | |
| 2020 | 320 | -99 (-24%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 10 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.
- 1955 USGS O'Neill quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS O'Neill quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Clearwater quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1969 USGS O'Neill quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS O'Neill quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS O'Neill quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
8 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Clearwater between 2006 and 2020, burning about 1,156 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 27 June 2017 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 13 June 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 25 March 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 14 March 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 24 February 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 31 October 2020 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 14 October 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
49 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clearwater in 49 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 23 hail, 20 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 2 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | Flash Flood | Clearwater | $10,000 | Law enforcement reported water over several county roads within Antelope County. |
| August 1996 | Lightning | Clearwater | $5,000 | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | $3,000 | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Flash Flood | Clearwater | - | During the evening of July 7th, heavy rainfall moved through central Antelope county with rainfall rates of 1-3 inches per hour at times with an estimated 1-3 inches of total rainfall. This led to flash flooding with law enforcement reporting water covering about 40 yards of the east bound land of Highway 275 heading into Clearwater, NE. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Clearwater | - | Fire department/rescue report of hail measured up to quarter sized, mixed in with mostly penny to nickel sized hail. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Public reported 75 MPH wind and roof shingle damage. |
| January 2019 | Flood | Clearwater | - | An ice jam along the banks of the Elkhorn River was causing lowland flooding. |
| January 2019 | Flood | Clearwater | - | County road 519th Avenue is closed due to water from an ice jam on the Elkhorn river. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | The emergency manager estimated 70 mph winds blew down road signs. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Scattered large tree branches were blown down around town. In addition, one healthy tree was uprooted and fell into a house in town. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at close to 60 mph downed tree limbs in the area. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | A trained spotter reported thunderstorm wind gusts reached around 60 mph in the Clearwater area. The winds also were accompanied by torrential rain which caused some brief minor flooding of roads in the area. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph downed some large trees in the area. In addition, torrential rain caused some brief minor flooding of a county road. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at close to 70 mph tore apart a farm outbuilding south of Clearwater. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph uprooted at least one tree in the Clearwater area and also damaged crops and some structures in the area. The winds could have been from the same super cell thunderstorm that produced a tornado west of town. The wind was accompanied by a lot of hail, most of it small but some up to quarter-size. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Clearwater | - | Hail, some estimated around quarter-size, was accompanied by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph. Enough hail fell that it lasted on the ground well into the evening hours. The hail and wind caused some vehicle and structure damage in the area. |
| August 2011 | Tornado (EF0) | Clearwater | - | A tornado was on ground for about 1 mile west of Clearwater. The tornado was caught on film by several people, and apparently did little damage. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | A spotter estimated thunderstorm winds of around 60 mph downed some small tree limbs. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph downed some tree limbs in the area. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Clearwater | - | From the second storm to hit within an hour. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph by a trained weather spotter in town. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Large tree limbs were broken by thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Clearwater | - | Hail up to 1 inch in diameter covered the ground in Clearwater. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph flattened a storage facility, did tree damage and bent a large flag pole in Clearwater. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts of close to 60 mph were estimated by law enforcement officials in Clearwater. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | A storm spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of around 60 mph. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | A law enforcement official estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of around 60 mph in Clearwater. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Hail | Clearwater | - | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clearwater | - | 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 Clearwater | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1099563 | 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 828198. 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.





