Elwood, Nebraska
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Elwood 7-22 precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 68937. The Survey maps it on the Elwood quadrangle. 658 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,667 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Elwood
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
Gosper County Courthouselisted 1990
Population over time
2 figuresElwood fell from 707 to 658 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 | 707 | |
| 2020 | 658 | -49 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 17 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.
- 1896 USGS Lexington quadrangle1:125000
- 1899 USGS Lexington quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1955 USGS Grand Island quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Grand Island quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Grand Island quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Elwood quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Kearney quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
11 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Elwood between 2004 and 2020, burning about 175 acres in total. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 24 September 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 22 September 2008 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 13 September 2004 | Natural | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 2 August 2011 | Natural | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 15 July 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 17 May 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 6 April 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 62 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 136 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elwood in 136 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 84 hail, 43 thunderstorm wind, 6 tornado, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 4 injuries. 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 1998 | Tornado (F1) | Elwood | 4 hurt, $500,000 | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Hail | Elwood | $200,000 | Quarter to golf ball size hail and 70 mph winds caused a swath of crop damage. || |
| July 2014 | Hail | Elwood | $100,000 | Quarter size hail accompanied wind gusts of 60 MPH. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $100,000 | Wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH accompanied quarter size hail. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $100,000 | Winds estimated to at least 65 MPH knocked branches out of trees, overturned an irrigation pivot and damaged an outbuilding. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Elwood | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Elwood | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Elwood | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $100,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Elwood | $75,000 | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Tornado (F1) | Elwood | $75,000 | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $60,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Elwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Elwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Elwood | $40,000 | Quarter to ping pong ball size hail was reported in the area, including quarter size hail by the NWS Cooperative Observer located eight miles south of Elwood. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $35,000 | Wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH with damage to several cattle sheds was reported. |
| May 2000 | Hail | Elwood | $30,000 | no account filed |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $25,000 | A wind gust of 70 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located three miles south-southeast of Johnson Lake. In this same area, a metal outbuilding was destroyed two miles north of Elwood. |
| August 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $25,000 | Wind gusts were estimated to be near 65 MPH. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Elwood | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2023 | Hail | Elwood | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $25,000 | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Elwood | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Elwood | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Hail | Elwood | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Elwood | $15,000 | Quarter size hail occurred along with estimated wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph on Highway 283 near mile marker 30. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $15,000 | Wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph occurred along with quarter size hail on Highway 283 near mile marker 30. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Elwood | $15,000 | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $10,000 | Tree limbs that were about four inches in diameter were blown down due to thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 2005 | Hail | Elwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Elwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $5,000 | Strong winds estimated to around 65 MPH damaged a large tree. |
| July 2019 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Elwood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $2,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH resulted in some minor tree damage in Elwood. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $2,000 | Wind gusts were estimated to be near 70 MPH. A tree approximately 10 inches in diameter was snapped. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | $1,000 | Wind gusts were estimated to be as high as 75 MPH. These winds resulted in blowing dust and reductions in visibility down to one-quarter of a mile at times. Tree damage was reported at their home. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | - | Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH resulted in a few downed tree limbs up to 3 inches in diameter. |
| May 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | - | A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located three miles south of Johnson Lake. |
| October 2023 | Hail | Elwood | - | Hail up to the size of quarters was accompanied by wind gusts estimated to be near 50 MPH. |
| September 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | - | A wind gust of 65 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located three miles south of Johnson Lake. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Elwood | - | Quarter size hail was reported to be covering Highway 283 approximately 6 miles north of Arapahoe. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | - | Wind gusts of 60 MPH and 70 MPH were measured on a hand-held anemometer. |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | - | Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. |
| May 2017 | Heavy Rain | Elwood | - | A rainfall total of 3.28 inches over the past 24 hours was reported. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elwood | - | Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. Some small tree limbs were downed. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devils Gap | 1.0 miles | 17 | |
| Smithfield | 6.4 miles | 16 |
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 Elwood | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2061397 | 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 829101. 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.






