Leigh, Nebraska
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Stanton precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 68643. The Survey maps it on the Leigh quadrangle. 435 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,604 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLeigh grew from 405 to 435 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 | 405 | |
| 2020 | 435 | +30 (+7%) |
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.
- 1955 USGS Fremont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fremont quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fremont quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Leigh quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Stanton quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
4 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Leigh between 2005 and 2012, burning about 6 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/undetermined | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 July 2009 | Fireworks | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 30 April 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 8 March 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 3 March 2007 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
29 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Leigh in 29 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 17 hail, 5 flash flood, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 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 2010 | Flood | Leigh | $1,500,000 | Heavy rain from roughly June 7th into the 14th produced prolonged flooding along Shell Creek and its tributaries from near Lindsay in Platte county downstream to around Schuyler in Colfax county. The high water flooded many county roads and forced the closure of Highway 15 north of Schuyler for a while. Shell Creek or one of its tributaries also flooded sections of northeast Schuyler prompting homes and businesses to sandbag to try to limit the damage. Nonetheless, some damage to about 200 homes and businesses occurred anyway, mostly to basements. Damage was also noted to county roads and crops because of the prolonged period of high water. Emergency management reported that at one time as many as 40 county roads and 40 bridges were under water in the county. Shell Creek near Columbus crested around 21.6 feet for a prolonged period from late morning on June 12th until early morning on the 13th. Flood stage is 20 feet. The creek near Columbus was above flood stage from the evening of June 11th until the late afternoon hours of June 14th, although flooding probably lasted longer than the 14th downstream of the gauge in Colfax county. |
| May 2024 | Flash Flood | Leigh | $10,000 | This is a continuation of the flash flood that occurred in Platte County. The office received a report from the public that county roads in far northwest Colfax County were impassable due to water. 6 inches of rain had already fallen with rain continuing at the time of the report. |
| April 2024 | Funnel Cloud | Leigh | - | The Colfax County EM reported multiple funnel clouds in the Leigh area. |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Leigh | - | This is a continuation of the EF-1 tornado from Platte County. After moving into Colfax County, the roof of a large livestock barn was damaged, producing EF-1 damage. The tornado dissipated in an agricultural field about 5.5 miles southeast of Leigh. The peak winds and width of the tornado in this segment were 107 miles per hour and 250 yards respectively. The average width was estimated to be 100 yards for this segment as well. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Leigh | - | The office received a public report of quarter sized hail. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leigh | - | A 58 miles per hour wind gust was measured by a personal weather station. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Leigh | - | Public reported 1.75-inch hail. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leigh | - | Trained spotter reported 60 mph winds. |
| May 2021 | Hail | Leigh | - | Trained spotter reported 1 inch hail. |
| October 2020 | Hail | Leigh | - | Public reported 1.75 inch hail. |
| October 2020 | Hail | Leigh | - | Trained spotter reported 1.75 inch hail. |
| September 2016 | Flash Flood | Leigh | - | The emergency manager indicated that in excess of 6 inches of rainfall had fallen over the northern half of the county. This had inundated many county roadways, damaged several bridges and culverts. |
| April 2015 | Hail | Leigh | - | The public via social media shared pictures of hail up to golf ball size that shattered windows and tore screens off the south side of the home. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leigh | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at around 70 mph caused considerable tree damage in the Leigh area. The fallen trees caused scattered vehicle and house damage and also knocked power out to the area. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leigh | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph downed trees and power lines near Leigh and caused roof damage to several homes in the area. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Leigh | - | The second storm to produce hail in the area during the morning. |
| April 2003 | Flash Flood | Leigh | - | Heavy rainfall flooded roads around Leigh and near Maple Creek around Howells. Some flooding was also reported in Howells where 5.5 inches of rain was reported over that night. |
| May 2003 | Flash Flood | Leigh | - | Heavy thunderstorm rains, which Doppler Radar estimated to be around 2 to 3 inches in several hours, caused flash flooding across northern Colfax county from near Leigh to near Howells. The water flooded several county roads in this area including a section of highway 15 north of Schuyler. |
| July 1997 | Flash Flood | Leigh | - | Rainfall of 2 to 3 inches in a short time flooded many county roads. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Leigh | - | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Leigh | - | 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.
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 Leigh | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3042689 | 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 830670. 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.




