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Milford, Nebraska

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Precinct O. It lies in ZIP code area 68405. It stands on Coon Creek. The Survey maps it on the Milford quadrangle. 2,155 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,453 feet above sea level.

Milford within Seward County

Population over time

2 figures

Milford grew from 2,090 to 2,155 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
20102,090
20202,155+65 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

2 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Milford between 2009 and 2020, burning about 42 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
Debris and open burning1
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
6 March 2009Debris and open burning1.5 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
16 February 2020Railroad operations and maintenance40 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Seward County

Storms near this place

45 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Milford in 45 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 22 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2008FloodMilford$25,000Rainfall of 3.5 inches fell overnight on July 15-16 in the Milford area. This caused flooding along Coon Creek which flooded a park and golf course on the south side of town and also closed a few county roads in the area.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindMilford$8,000Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph split a large maple tree causing it to crush an SUV. No one was in the vehicle at that time.
May 1996LightningMilford$5,000no account filed
May 1996Tornado (F0)Milford$1,000no account filed
September 2025FloodMilford-On the morning of September 1, 2025, intense thunderstorms generated heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding concerns across portions of eastern Nebraska, specifically Seward County. Radar estimated total rainfall for the event ranged from 3 to 6 inches. These assessments were strongly supported by public rainfall reports, which documented significant totals, including 5.51 inches four miles northwest of Dorchester, NE, 4.43 inches five miles north of Dorchester, NE, and 3.97 inches three miles west-northwest of Milford, NE. The resultant runoff from this excessive precipitation led to riverine flooding in Seward County along the Big Blue River near Crete, NE. The river officially entered flood stage at 8:30 PM CST on September 1, 2025, and reached its maximum height, or crest, of 21.30 feeta level corresponding to minor flood stageat 12:30 AM CST on September 2, 2025. The Big Blue River subsequently receded and fell below flood stage at 4:30 AM CST on September 2, 2025.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindMilford-A 66 miles per hour wind gust was measured by NDOT station E0651.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindMilford-A 63 miles per hour wind gust was measured by a personal weather station.
April 2022HailMilford-Public reported quarter size hail.
December 2021Tornado (EF2)Milford-This is segment 2 of 3 of an EF-2 tornado that came out of northeast Saline County. In Seward County it damaged trees and farm outbuildings, passing just southeast of Pleasant Dale. The tornado then crossed into Lancaster County.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindMilford-Emergency manager reported downed tree branches.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindMilford-Several branches reported blown down ranging from 1 to 15 inches in diameter.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindMilford-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph downed 2-3 inch diameter tree limbs.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindMilford-A spotter estimated that thunderstorm winds reached 60 mph in the Milford area.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindMilford-A Department of Roads sensor on Interstate 80 north of Milford measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 68 mph.
July 2008HailMilford-Hail up to golfball-size caused damage to property and crops in the Milford area. At least one house had considerable siding damage and a church had a few windows broken out.
June 2008HailMilford-Law Enforcement reported hail up to baseball-size fell in the Milford area. The hail caused extensive vehicle damage, especially at a local car dealership and a local business where over 140 vehicles were damaged. Some houses also sustained roof and siding damage.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindMilford-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated at 70 mph according to the Milford Police Chief. The winds broke large tree limbs in town and flipped two silage wagons.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMilford-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph downed trees in town which blocked a road.
April 2002Tornado (F0)Milford-A brief touchdown in open country caught on film by the same storm chaser that saw the larger tornado which did some damage west of Crete this particular afternoon.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindMilford-Thunderstorm winds damaged or destroyed several outbuildings just east of Milford.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindMilford-Thunderstorm winds downed 2 to 3 foot diameter trees in Milford.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindMilford-Numerous trees and power lines downed.
April 1994Thunderstorm WindMilford-Thunderstorm winds knocked down large tree limbs and power lines.
July 2015HailMilford-no account filed
May 2011HailMilford-no account filed
April 2011HailMilford-no account filed
August 2011HailMilford-no account filed
June 2010HailMilford-no account filed
June 2010HailMilford-no account filed
June 2008HailMilford-no account filed
May 2007HailMilford-no account filed
August 2007HailMilford-no account filed
April 2007HailMilford-no account filed
September 2007HailMilford-no account filed
March 2006HailMilford-no account filed
March 2006HailMilford-no account filed
April 2006HailMilford-no account filed
June 2005HailMilford-no account filed
July 2004HailMilford-no account filed
April 2002HailMilford-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindMilford-no account filed
August 1997Funnel CloudMilford-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindMilford-no account filed
May 1996HailMilford-no account filed
April 1995HailMilford-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Seward 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
Grover0.8 miles15
Riverside Park0.9 miles15
Ruby4.2 miles15
Camden (historical)5.4 miles15
Pleasant Dale6.4 miles15
Seward9.5 miles14
Goehner9.9 miles15
Garland12.2 miles15

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 MilfordAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q966215The 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 831294. 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.