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Elgin, Nebraska

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Logan Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68636. The Survey maps it on the Elgin quadrangle. 717 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,926 feet above sea level.

Elgin within Antelope County

Population over time

2 figures

Elgin grew from 661 to 717 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.

YearPeople Change
2010661
2020717+56 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 10 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

5 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Elgin between 2004 and 2016, burning about 2 acres in total. None 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/undetermined2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
15 July 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
16 April 2004Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
15 November 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
25 October 2007Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
14 October 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Every fire recorded in Antelope County

Storms near this place

53 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elgin in 53 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 31 hail, 14 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 3 tornado. The reports record 1 death. 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
August 1996Thunderstorm WindElgin1 killedno account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindElgin$35,000An apparent thunderstorm microburst destroyed a large frame building and did some tree damage west of Elgin.
May 2012Flash FloodElgin$15,000Rainfall of over 4 inches fell in a few hours in the Elgin area. The heavy rain caused flash flooding over a few roads and at least one bridge east of Elgin.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindElgin-Personal weather station measured wind gust of 58 mph.
July 2024HailElgin-A storm chaser reported quarter sized hail. Time of the report was adjusted slightly to better align with radar data and account for the delay between the actual event and when the report was called in.
March 2019FloodElgin-Roads in Elgin flooded up to a foot in some locations, but still passable to traffic.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindElgin-A wind gust of 77 mph was measured 4 miles south of Elgin.
September 2015HailElgin-The report indicated that the hail lasted for 10 min in duration.
May 2012HailElgin-Hail up to golf ball-size fell in and near the Elgin area. The wind driven hail broke windows and damaged siding in the area, and also caused vehicle and tree damage. Crops in the region were also heavily damaged. This storm also produced a tornado south of the region.
May 2012HailElgin-Hail up to baseball-size smashed car and house windows and caused siding and roof damage as well. Winds with the thunderstorm also downed a tree east of town.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindElgin-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph downed several large trees in the area.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindElgin-Law enforcement estimated thunderstorm wind gusts hit 70 mph near Oakdale. The strong winds extended from northwest of Elgin into the Oakdale area and flipped numerous center pivots in Antelope county, with at least 40 to 45 systems destroyed and 12 to 14 grain bins severely damaged as well. Tree damage was also noted in the area.
August 2011HailElgin-Hail up to quarter-size was accompanied by winds at least 50 mph in the Elgin area. The wind and hail caused crop damage in the area.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindElgin-Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph downed a few trees in the Elgin area.
August 2009HailElgin-Some hailstones reached around nickel-size.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindElgin-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated by the public at 60 mph in the Elgin area. The winds split at least one large tree in the area.
April 2005HailElgin-Golfball size hail was reported from Elgin to 8 miles west of town.
April 2005Flash FloodElgin-Heavy rainfall from thunderstorms that persisted over Antelope county for several hours caused flash flooding west of Elgin where water was reported over highway 70 as high as the hood of a car. There were unofficial reports that 6 to 8 inches of rain fell 6 to 10 miles west of Elgin. The highway was closed for several hours as flood waters rushed over it. As the flood waters receeded, a significant amount of standing water persisted for a few days around the Elgin area.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindElgin-Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph overturned several center pivot irrigation systems northwest of Elgin and caused tree damage in Elgin.
July 2001Tornado (F0)Elgin-Brief tornado touchdown in open country, reported by a law enforcement official.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindElgin-Thunderstorm wind gusts of 62 mph were reported lasting around 2 minutes by law enforcement personel.
May 2000Flash FloodElgin-Heavy rain of 3.5 to 4 inches over 3 to 4 hours caused Cedar Creek to flood fields and several county roads southeast of Elgin.
June 1999Tornado (F0)Elgin-Brief touchdown reported by Elgin police just west of town.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindElgin-Semi truck blown over.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindElgin-Framing of new building destroyed.
April 1994Tornado (F0)Elgin-A van was picked up and rolled several times into a ditch.
April 1994Thunderstorm WindElgin-Power lines were downed by strong winds and a community storage building in the city park was torn open.
July 2015HailElgin-no account filed
July 2014HailElgin-no account filed
June 2014HailElgin-no account filed
June 2011HailElgin-no account filed
June 2008HailElgin-no account filed
August 2007HailElgin-no account filed
July 2007HailElgin-no account filed
June 2006HailElgin-no account filed
April 2005HailElgin-no account filed
April 2005HailElgin-no account filed
April 2005HailElgin-no account filed
August 2005HailElgin-no account filed
August 2005HailElgin-no account filed
September 2004HailElgin-no account filed
September 2004HailElgin-no account filed
May 2003HailElgin-no account filed
May 2003HailElgin-no account filed
June 2002HailElgin-no account filed
June 2002HailElgin-no account filed
June 2000HailElgin-no account filed
June 1999HailElgin-no account filed
September 1997HailElgin-no account filed
March 1996HailElgin-no account filed
July 1996HailElgin-no account filed
May 1996Flash FloodElgin-no account filed
July 1994Thunderstorm WindElgin-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Antelope 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
Oakdale8.5 miles9
Neligh10.4 miles10
Clearwater14.0 miles10
Royal24.2 miles10
Brunswick25.2 miles9
Orchard25.7 miles10

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 ElginAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q966246The 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 829047. 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.