Dickens, Nebraska
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1979. It stands in Wallace precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69132. The Survey maps it on the Dickens quadrangle. It stands 3,136 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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.
- 1954 USGS McCook quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Dickens quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS McCook quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS McCook quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1979 USGS Gothenburg quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
12 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Dickens between 1999 and 2012, burning about 7,181 acres in total. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 9 July 2012 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 6 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 12 July 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 11 July 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 3 June 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 30 May 2012 | Natural | 25 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 15 March 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
43 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dickens in 43 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 28 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 3 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 2007 | Flash Flood | Dickens | $400,000 | Thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall of 2 to 6 inches across southeast Lincoln County. Houses north of the railroad tracks in Maxwell flooded with 2 1/2 feet of water. Small mudslides onto the railroad tracks occurred at the Newberry Access overpass in North Platte. Highways 23, 25 and 83 were under water in several locations. Numerous secondary roads were severely damaged due to water over the roads. |
| June 2025 | Tornado (EF2) | Dickens | $140,000 | Tornado developed and tracked approximately 3 miles to the south where it dissipated almost 45 minutes later. Along the tornado path, numerous power poles were snapped, a center pivot was overturned, and severe tree damage was reported to shelterbelts. |
| July 2007 | Flash Flood | Dickens | $75,000 | A large slow moving thunderstorm produced 3 to 6 inches of rainfall. The rainfall drained into canyons in southeast Lincoln County causing flash flooding with roads under water in several locations. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Dickens | $70,000 | Softball size hail put holes in roof and living room ceiling. All vehicles sustained significant damage. |
| September 2010 | Flash Flood | Dickens | $60,000 | Heavy rainfall cause county road damage six miles north of Wellfleet on Nelson road and in the Medicine Canyon. Standing water covered several roads and caused washouts. The heavy rainfall also caused road damage 11 miles south of Maxwell at the junction of South Cottonwood Canyon road and South Effenbeck road. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | $30,000 | Thunderstorm wind gusts, estimated at 80 MPH, overturned two towers of a center pivot irrigation system. Time estimated by radar. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Dickens | $10,000 | General public reported largest hail slightly larger than golf ball. Extensive damage occurred with all windows destroyed as well as significant crop damage. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Dickens | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | $5,000 | A house antenna was damaged by the thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Dickens | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Dickens | $3,000 | Windows on the north side of the house broken out. |
| June 2025 | Tornado (EF1) | Dickens | - | Tornado touched down and crossed highway 23 before lifting. Large branches were broken where the tornado initially touched down. As the tornado tracked to the west-southwest, it snapped several hardwood trees in a shelterbelt before dissipating. |
| May 2021 | Hail | Dickens | - | Quarter sized hail reported at this location. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Dickens | - | Public reported quarter size hail southwest of Dickens. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Dickens | - | Hail lasted for 10 to 15 minutes. Time estimated from radar. |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | - | Thunderstorm wind gust estimated at 60 MPH. |
| July 2015 | Hail | Dickens | - | In addition to ping pong ball sized hail, wind gusts of 50 MPH were reported at this location. |
| August 2013 | Lightning | Dickens | - | Lightning ignited a wildfire near 1.5 miles east of Dickens that burned pasture land. |
| April 2012 | Tornado (EF0) | Dickens | - | A rope tornado briefly touched down in open rangeland with no damage reported. |
| May 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | - | A farmer reported tree branches of 5 to 6 inches in diameter broken. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Dickens | - | The hail, along with 70 mph winds severely damaged corn crops. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| August 2025 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| September 2019 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| April 2008 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Dickens | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Dickens | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | 7.0 miles | 7 | |
| Wallace | 9.2 miles | 7 | |
| Wellfleet | 14.8 miles | 9 | |
| Hershey | 22.9 miles | 14 | |
| Key Estates | 23.3 miles | 14 | |
| Birdwood | 23.3 miles | 13 | |
| O'Fallons | 23.5 miles | 14 | |
| North Platte | 23.8 miles | 14 |
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 Dickens | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5273608 | 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 835287. 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.




