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Mullen, Nebraska

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1948 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Mullen precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69152. The Survey maps it on the Mullen quadrangle. 500 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,215 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Mullen within Hooker County

On record in Mullen

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

Mullen fell from 509 to 500 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
2010509
2020500-9 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 10 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

11 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Mullen between 1999 and 2012, burning about 2,313 acres in total. 6 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
Natural6
Debris and open burning2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
29 August 2012Debris and open burning2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 August 2012Natural40 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 August 2012Natural50 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 August 2012Natural135 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
21 August 2005Natural50 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
17 August 2008Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
1 August 2012Natural5.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
5 July 2008Natural10 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Every fire recorded in Hooker County

Storms near this place

60 of 275 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mullen in 275 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 190 hail, 63 thunderstorm wind, 10 tornado, 9 funnel cloud. 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 1997Flash FloodMullen$500,000Flash flood waters washed out 2 miles of county road.
June 2000HailMullen$250,000Significant damage to grassland in Hooker county and property in the Mullen area as a thunderstorm dropped hail covering the ground several inches deep in some areas.
July 2009HailMullen$100,000The cooperative observer reported the tennis ball size hail.
July 2007HailMullen$35,000A supercell storm dropped very large hail as it moved south along Highway 97 through the Dismal River area. The hail damaged roofs and vehicles.
June 2005HailMullen$30,000Large hail broke windshields and heavily damaged vehicles.
July 2007HailMullen$30,000no account filed
June 2015HailMullen$25,000Windows were broken out of house with cars stuck on Highway 97 due to the hail.
July 2000HailMullen$25,000no account filed
July 2007HailMullen$15,000The large hail damaged a few roofs and vehicles.
June 2009HailMullen$15,000no account filed
July 2001HailMullen$15,000no account filed
August 2017Thunderstorm WindMullen$10,000Numerous tree limbs reported down in Mullen.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindMullen$10,000Law Enforcement reported power outages in Mullen and street signs knocked down.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindMullen$10,000Law enforcement reported a stop sign blown down along with several three to five inch diameter tree limbs down throughout the town. The downed tree limbs help take out power lines on the west side of town.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindMullen$10,000Law enforcement reported tree damage and numerous power lines down in Mullen.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindMullen$10,000A 40 foot radio tower was blown down and 8 inch tree limbs were snapped.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindMullen$10,000Thunderstorm winds caused extensive tree damage in the community of Mullen.
June 2015HailMullen$10,000no account filed
July 2001HailMullen$10,000no account filed
July 2001HailMullen$10,000no account filed
July 2000HailMullen$10,000no account filed
July 2000HailMullen$10,000no account filed
June 1999HailMullen$10,000no account filed
June 2001HailMullen$9,000no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindMullen$7,000Thunderstorm wind damaged, broke, or blew down numerous trees southwest of Mullen and in Mullen.
June 1999HailMullen$7,000no account filed
July 2001HailMullen$6,000no account filed
June 1999HailMullen$6,000no account filed
July 2015Thunderstorm WindMullen$5,000Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH blew shingles off of a house.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindMullen$5,000Multiple trees and power lines reported down in Mullen.
May 2009Tornado (EF0)Mullen$5,000Numerous trained storm spotters reported the touchdown of the tornado approximately 17 miles south southwest of Mullen. The tornado traveled across open rangeland until encountering one ranch. As it moved past the ranch, it demolished a metal windbreak, a tower, an outbuilding, and a windmill. The tornado also broke off large trees and carried a pickup cab 100 feet. The tornado then continued on a east-southeast track carrying debris 2 miles. The tornado was on the ground for about 3.5 miles.
May 2009HailMullen$5,000A few golf ball size hailstones were reported in the vicinity of a dissipated tornado near Highway 97 and the Dismal River.
June 2009HailMullen$5,000no account filed
June 2001HailMullen$5,000no account filed
June 1999HailMullen$4,000no account filed
June 2014LightningMullen$3,000Two cows were struck by lightning and died.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindMullen$3,00060 mph thunderstorm winds blew down large tree limbs in Mullen.
June 2006HailMullen$3,000no account filed
August 2002HailMullen$3,000no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindMullen$2,000Thunderstorm winds snapped off large tree limbs and destroyed a small shed.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindMullen$2,000Large tree limbs down.
August 2002HailMullen$2,000no account filed
August 2002HailMullen$2,000no account filed
June 2008HailMullen$1,500no account filed
July 2013HailMullen$1,000A sheriff's deputy reported his wind shield was broken out by ping pong ball sized hail on Highway 97 near Mile Marker 55.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindMullen$1,000TREE LIMBS DOWN
July 2000Thunderstorm WindMullen$1,000Large tree down.
August 2005HailMullen$1,000no account filed
May 2004HailMullen$1,000no account filed
May 2004HailMullen$1,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindMullen$1,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindMullen$1,000no account filed
August 2025HailMullen-Large quantity of hail with drifting noted.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindMullen-Thunderstorm wind gust estimated at 60 MPH, reported at this location.
July 2024HailMullen-Report via social media. Time estimated from radar.
June 2024Tornado (EF2)Mullen-EF-2 damage was observed at several locations in Hooker County as the tornado continued to track south southeast.
July 2024HailMullen-Report via social media with hail up to 4 inches in diameter.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindMullen-A trained spotter estimated 60 to 70 mph winds.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMullen-Thunderstorm wind gust of 60 MPH estimated at this location.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindMullen-Thunderstorm wind gust.

Every storm recorded in Hooker 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
Kelso6.2 miles12
Heil School (historical)10.3 miles10
Weir17.2 miles10

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 MullenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1894192The 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 831529. 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.