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Keystone, Nebraska

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1897 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Whitetail precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69144. It stands on Spring Creek. The Survey maps it on the Keystone quadrangle. 73 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,100 feet above sea level.

Keystone within Keith County

On record in Keystone

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

Population over time

2 figures

Keystone grew from 59 to 73 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
201059
202073+14 (+24%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 16 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

29 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Keystone between 2008 and 2020, burning about 69 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
Debris and open burning8
Recreation and ceremony5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Fireworks3
Natural2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Smoking1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
26 September 2018Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
16 September 2017Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
4 August 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
4 August 2012Debris and open burning3.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
3 August 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
1 August 2011Recreation and ceremony15 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 July 2020Natural2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
3 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Keith County

Storms near this place

60 of 62 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Keystone in 62 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 31 hail, 30 thunderstorm wind, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1998HailKeystone$75,000Hail accompanied by 45 to 50 mph winds. Damage to cars, campers, and mobile homes.
May 2007HailKeystone$30,000The hail stripped siding on homes, broke windows, damaged roofs, and severely damaged vehicles.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindKeystone$20,000Strong thunderstorm outflow winds destroyed an airplane hangar, broke off numerous large tree limbs, destroyed a new pole barn, and broke out 2 windows in a house.
July 2009HailKeystone$15,000The hail was accompanied by very strong winds in excess of 60 mph.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindKeystone$10,000Damaging thunderstorm winds ripped off a large soffit from an area from the front porch to garage. Rain gutters torn off and shingles blown off the roof as well.
July 2001HailKeystone$10,000no account filed
June 2009Thunderstorm WindKeystone$8,000Large hail accompanied the strong winds.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindKeystone$8,000The public reported 60 mph wind gusts along with large hail.
June 2009HailKeystone$8,000The public reported large hail and very strong wind gusts.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKeystone$2,000A car traveling on Kingsley Dam had its window blown out by high thunderstorm winds which were measured at 78 MPH at Kingsley Dam.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Thunderstorm wind gust of 58 MPH measured at this location.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Thunderstorm wind gust was accompanied by a heat burst with a temperature of 94F and relative humidity of 14 percent.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Public estimated winds of 60 mph.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Emergency management reported several animal water tanks and a 32 foot stock trailer flipped on their sides northeast of Ogallala.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindKeystone-A 74 MPH wind gust was reported east of Keystone.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindKeystone-A weather station measured 62 mph wind gusts.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Automated weather station recorded 64 mph wind gust.
July 2018HailKeystone-Heavy damage reported with some cattle being injured.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Measured wind gust of 64 MPH at this location.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Thunderstorm wind gust of 70 MPH measured at this location.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Wind gust of 61 MPH measured by a mesonet.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Wind gust of 58 MPH measured by a mesonet.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Mesonet wind gust of 78 MPH measured at this location.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Wind gust of 83 MPH measured at Union Pacific Mesonet Station UP362, 3 miles east northeast of Kingsley Dam.
June 2018HailKeystone-Hail ranged in size from nickles to golf balls.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindKeystone-No significant damage reported from this wind gust.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindKeystone-No significant damage reported from this wind gust.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Public reported damage to a windmill. Time was estimated.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Public reported a center pivot with 8 towers flipped over. Two bolts on the west side of the pivot base were sheared and the base was cracked. Time was estimated.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 75 mph.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Public reported thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindKeystone-Law enforcement reported power poles cracked due to high winds northeast of Ogallala.
August 2011HailKeystone-Crops were heavily damaged on the north side of Lake McConaughy and near Keystone from large hail. Several thousand acres of crops were affected with yields being reduced.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Keystone-A weak tornado from a supercell thunderstorm was on the ground for about 4 miles. Several trained storm spotters and passersby on Interstate 80 saw the tornado. No damage occurred as the tornado moved across open rangeland.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindKeystone-no account filed
May 2020HailKeystone-no account filed
July 2018HailKeystone-no account filed
August 2018HailKeystone-no account filed
June 2017Thunderstorm WindKeystone-no account filed
July 2017Thunderstorm WindKeystone-no account filed
June 2015HailKeystone-no account filed
May 2013HailKeystone-no account filed
May 2013HailKeystone-no account filed
May 2012HailKeystone-no account filed
April 2012HailKeystone-no account filed
July 2009HailKeystone-no account filed
October 2008HailKeystone-no account filed
October 2008HailKeystone-no account filed
June 2008HailKeystone-no account filed
July 2004HailKeystone-no account filed
June 2002HailKeystone-no account filed
May 2000HailKeystone-no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindKeystone-no account filed
May 1999HailKeystone-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindKeystone-no account filed
July 1997HailKeystone-no account filed
June 1996HailKeystone-no account filed
July 1996HailKeystone-no account filed
August 1996HailKeystone-no account filed
July 1995HailKeystone-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Keith 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
Broganville3.6 miles16
Roscoe5.9 miles16
Martin6.3 miles16
Nevens8.7 miles14
Ogallala9.4 miles16
Lemoyne12.8 miles16
Paxton13.6 miles14
Sarben15.1 miles14

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 KeystoneAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6398428The 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 830490. 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.