Decatur, Nebraska
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Decatur Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68020. It stands on Elm Creek. The Survey maps it on the Onawa SW quadrangle. 410 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,070 feet above sea level.
On record in Decatur
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
- A.B. Fuller Houselisted 2020
Population over time
2 figuresDecatur fell from 481 to 410 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 | 481 | |
| 2020 | 410 | -71 (-15%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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 Sioux City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Sioux City quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Sioux City quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Onawa SW quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Sioux City South quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
17 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Decatur between 2002 and 2017, burning about 1,685 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 | 7 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 April 2002 | Smoking | 40 acres | Winnebago Agency | A1302015 |
| 7 April 2002 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Winnebago Agency | A1302016 |
| 7 April 2002 | Smoking | 11 acres | Winnebago Agency | A1302027 |
| 6 April 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 12 acres | Winnebago Agency | A1302014 |
| 6 April 2002 | Fireworks | 13 acres | Winnebago Agency | A1302028 |
| 5 April 2002 | Fireworks | 11 acres | Winnebago Agency | A1302029 |
| 5 April 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | Winnebago Agency | A1302025 |
| 29 April 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 260 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
34 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Decatur in 34 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 21 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 5 flood, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2011 | Flood | Decatur | $100,000 | Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over the area during June as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the river. In Burt county the flooding generally began during the first week of the month as the gauge at Decatur didn't surpass flood stage until around June 6th. However, by the middle of the month the gauge had climbed above 38 feet and reached around 40 feet by the end of the month. Flood stage at Decatur is 35 feet. Flooding in Burt county especially affected agricultural lowlands, recreation areas and roads near the river but also forced evacuation of 150 to 200 homes. Late in the month the Highway 175 bridge over the Missouri between Decatur and Onawa was closed due to erosion of the abutment on the Iowa side of the bridge. The flooding persisted into July. |
| July 2011 | Flood | Decatur | $50,000 | Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over the area during June and continued into July as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. In Burt county the flooding generally began during the first week of June as the gauge at Decatur didn't surpass flood stage until around June 6th. The level climbed to around 40 feet by the end of June and remained around that level through July. Flood stage at Decatur is 35 feet. Flooding in Burt county especially affected agricultural lowlands, recreation areas and roads near the river but also forced evacuation of 150 to 200 homes. Late in June the Highway 175 bridge over the Missouri between Decatur and Onawa was closed due to erosion of the abutment on the Iowa side of the bridge. The flooding persisted into August. |
| June 2024 | Flood | Decatur | $10,000 | River flooding from upstream excessive rain impacted the region, bringing the Missouri River to moderate flood stage. The Missouri River crested at 37.55 feet at the Decatur gauge at 03:45 CDT on 6/26. Flood stage at this gauge is 35.0 feet. |
| August 2011 | Flood | Decatur | $5,000 | Flooding along the Missouri River continued into August as record releases from Gavins Point Dam, initially due to heavy rain and snow melt, and then to mostly heavy rain brought widespread flooding along the River. However, by the end of the month the river fell drastically as releases from Gavins Point Dam were cut way back and the river gauge at Decatur dropped below its 35 foot flood stage late on Aug. 31. Earlier in the summer flooding in Burt county affected agricultural lowlands, recreation areas and roads near the river and also forced evacuation of 150 to 200 homes. Late in June the Highway 175 bridge over the Missouri between Decatur and Onawa was closed due to erosion of the abutment on the Iowa side of the bridge and the bridge remained closed during August. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Decatur | - | The Burt County Emergency Manager reported a 65 miles per hour wind gust on the north side of Decatur, Nebraska. |
| June 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Decatur | - | An EF-0 tornado developed just north of Decatur, breaking tree limbs and bringing down power lines. The tornado lasted approximately 1 minute and was approximately 75 yards wide according to video and eyewitness reports. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Decatur | - | Public reported 1-inch hail via mPing. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Decatur | - | Public reported a lot of hail, most of it nickel size with some stones up to 1 inch. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Decatur | - | Trained spotter reported 1 inch hail. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Decatur | - | This is for flooding along the Missouri River. The river gage at Decatur, operated by the USGS, peaked at 36.59 feet at 5 pm on March 17th. Minor flood stage is 35 feet. Preliminary this was the 3rd highest crest on record. |
| November 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Decatur | - | Dime size hail also accompanied winds. |
| November 2012 | Hail | Decatur | - | Dime-size hail was accompanied by wind gusts estimated at around 60 mph. |
| June 2012 | Flash Flood | Decatur | - | Rainfall estimated at around 3 inches in several hours caused flash flooding across parts of Highway 75 near Decatur for a few hours. Damage was apparently minimal, but the flooding did detour traffic for a while. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Decatur | - | Thunderstorm winds of around 60 mph downed a few large branches in town. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Decatur | - | Hail around 3/4 of an inch in diameter fell for a little under 10 minutes in Decatur. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Decatur | - | Numerous trees were blown down and windows in a house were blown in at a location 6 miles west and 3 miles south of Decatur. Winds estimated to be over 80 mph. |
| August 2007 | Hail | Decatur | - | Hail up to golf ball size was accompanied by heavy rain with 2.00 inches in 60 minutes. |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Decatur | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed a large tree which briefly blocked Highway 51 west of Decatur. |
| July 2002 | Hail | Decatur | - | A storm spotter reported hail up to golfball size caused "extreme damage" in town. |
| June 2018 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| September 2015 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Decatur | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Decatur | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basford (historical) | 6.1 miles | 9 | |
| Bertha | 9.8 miles | 8 | |
| Riverside (historical) | 10.3 miles | 8 | |
| Lyons | 13.0 miles | 8 | |
| Arizona | 14.7 miles | 9 | |
| Tekamah | 15.9 miles | 9 | |
| Craig | 16.5 miles | 9 | |
| Oakland | 16.5 miles | 8 |
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 Decatur | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2512082 | 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 828631. 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.




