Merna, Nebraska
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Kilfoil Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68856. The Survey maps it on the Merna quadrangle. 343 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,664 feet above sea level.
On record in Merna
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 2 records
Brenizer Librarylisted 2007
Benjamin and Mary Kellenbarger Houselisted 2007
Population over time
2 figuresMerna fell from 363 to 343 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 | 363 | |
| 2020 | 343 | -20 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 11 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.
- 1951 USGS Merna quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Broken Bow quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS Broken Bow quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Broken Bow quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
12 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Merna between 2006 and 2018, burning about 935 acres in total. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 2010 | Fireworks | 10 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 15 September 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 7.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 3 August 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 14 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 2 August 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 4 July 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 23 April 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 9 March 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 20 March 2009 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 67 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Merna in 67 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 48 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2010 | Flood | Merna | $300,000 | Thunderstorms with prolonged heavy rain falling on already saturated ground caused widespread flooding through northern and central Custer County. Three to five inches of rain caused water to flow across the Victoria Springs Road, the Callaway Road, and Highway 92 near Merna. The rain produced a sink hole, 4 feet in depth, to form in the road between Merna and Victoria Springs. The south side of the Sargent Diversion Dam collapsed sending a tremendous amount of water to the Comstock Diversion Dam which held the water. Numerous rural roads were also severely damaged. |
| May 2023 | Lightning | Merna | $50,000 | Lightning struck a house, setting it on fire. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | $25,000 | Off-duty NWS employee reported high winds with large trees down and a grain bin destroyed. A fertilizer and seed plant was also demolished. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | $20,000 | Two center pivots over-turned and damaged. |
| May 1999 | Hail | Merna | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Hail | Merna | $3,000 | Hail damaged the roof of a greenhouse. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Merna | $3,000 | The jagged hail tore bark off trees. |
| April 2007 | Hail | Merna | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Merna | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Merna | - | Public reported quarter size hail in Merna along with small tree limbs downed and loss of electricity. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Merna | - | Nickel sized hail was reported just west of Merna. |
| May 2020 | Flash Flood | Merna | - | Highway 2 between mile markers 272 and 273 has one lane flooded. |
| May 2020 | Flash Flood | Merna | - | Road 433 near Merna is washed out and covered with water. |
| May 2020 | Hail | Merna | - | Report from social media. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | - | A storm chaser measured a 63 MPH wind gust. |
| June 2020 | Tornado (EF0) | Merna | - | Brief touchdown with no damage reported. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Merna | - | The NDOR web site reported flooding on Highway 92 or about 8 miles west of Merna. |
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Merna | - | Street flooding reported in several locations in Merna. |
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Merna | - | Water over highway 92 10 miles west of Merna. |
| May 2013 | Flash Flood | Merna | - | Flood water flowing across the road. |
| June 2011 | Flash Flood | Merna | - | Water was reported over the westbound lane on Highway 92 in northwest Custer county. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | - | Strong thunderstorm wind gust did damage to trees and field 8 miles west of Merna. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | - | The Severe Thunderstorm produced winds of 60 to 70 mph accompanied by hail up to nickel size. This blew siding off of houses and broke windows in Merna, Nebraska. |
| June 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Merna | - | The tornado touched down briefly. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| March 2004 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Merna | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Merna | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dale (historical) | 4.5 miles | 11 | |
| Broken Bow | 8.5 miles | 12 | |
| New Helena | 8.8 miles | 11 | |
| Lillian | 9.5 miles | 11 | |
| Anselmo | 10.8 miles | 11 | |
| Gates | 12.6 miles | 11 | |
| Round Valley | 14.0 miles | 11 | |
| Walworth | 15.1 miles | 11 |
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 Merna | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2264075 | 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 831232. 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.



