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Niobrara, Nebraska

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Niobrara Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68760. It stands on Niobrara River. The Survey maps it on the Niobrara quadrangle. 365 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,230 feet above sea level.

Niobrara within Knox County

On record in Niobrara

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

Population over time

2 figures

Niobrara fell from 370 to 365 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
2010370
2020365-5 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

13 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Niobrara between 2004 and 2019, burning about 1,413 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/undetermined7
Debris and open burning5
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
7 July 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionSTANDING BEAR OVERLOOK
4 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionSTANDING BEAR BRIDGE FIRE
28 May 2007Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
5 April 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionJAY ROMKEMA
29 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined640 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
20 April 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
12 April 2018Debris and open burning600 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
10 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionMILLER / RUNNING WATER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Knox County

Storms near this place

44 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Niobrara in 44 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 24 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 4 flood, 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
July 2010FloodNiobrara$35,000Rainfall of at least 4 to 8 inches fell across the Ponca Creek basin from late in the evening of the 21st into the early morning hours of the 22nd. The heavy rain caused flooding along Ponca Creek for much of July 22nd. The creek near Verdel crested a little over 14.5 feet during the early afternoon hours of the 22nd, flood stage is 12 feet. The flooding caused numerous washouts of county roads and and also flooded Highway 12 along with agricultural lowlands. Several culverts needed replacement after the flood. There was also significant flooding of a resort near the Missouri River close to where Ponca Creek flows into it with over 2 feet of water reported in the campground.
October 1996Thunderstorm WindNiobrara$30,000no account filed
July 2010FloodNiobrara$10,000Rainfall of 4 to 6 inches fell across much of this area during the night of July 21st and 22nd. The heavy rain produced flooding along Bazile Creek which flooded across Highway 12 east of Niobrara depositing some debris and causing its temporary closure. A Few county roads in the area were also flooded as were agricultural lowlands near the Creek.
July 2025HailNiobrara-Emergency management report of hail measured up to 1 inch in diameter. Time estimated from radar.
July 2023HailNiobrara-Public reported hail larger thana golf ball but smaller than a tennis ball.
July 2023HailNiobrara-Public reported hail larger than a quarter and small than a golf ball.
July 2023HailNiobrara-Public reported 1.75-inch hail.
March 2023HailNiobrara-Public reported golf ball sized hail.
June 2023HailNiobrara-Public reported lots of quarter to half dollar size hail with wind gusts estimated at 45 mph.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Public reported horse barn and garage destroyed.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Public reported several large trees downed.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Public reported a garage and horse barn destroyed.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Public reported a large tree down by the Missouri River near Niobrara, NE.
August 2017HailNiobrara-Hail up to half dollar size was reported in Niobrara.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-The wind gust was reported on a weather station at Niobrara State Park.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-A few large tree limbs down and some shingle damage to roofs were reported.
May 2012HailNiobrara-Hail up to golf ball-size fell for around 20 to 30 minutes northwest of Verdigre.
May 2012HailNiobrara-Hail around quarter-size fell for about a half hour northeast of Verdigre from a slow moving thunderstorm.
August 2011HailNiobrara-Lots of quarter-size hail was reported by a trained spotter in the Niobrara area.
May 2008FloodNiobrara-Heavy rain that fell across northeast Nebraska during the evening and overnight hours of May 29th and 30th caused flooding along Bazile Creek from east of Niobrara to around the Bloomfield area and along Verdigre Creek near Verdigre. County roads along the creeks were flooded with some bridge approaches severely damaged. Highway 12 east of Niobrara was flooded along with agricultural lowlands and a park near Verdigre.
March 2007FloodNiobrara-Rapid snow melt caused flooding of small streams in Knox county. Bazile Creek, near Maiden's Leap, 5 miles east of Niobrara, flooded a few county roads and Highway 12 causing their closure.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 mph severely damaged a trailer, uprooted 2 trees, upset a center pivot, and caused some building damage in an area from 6 miles southwest of Niobrara into Niobrara.
June 2005HailNiobrara-The hail caused vehicle and some building/house damage in town.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Thunderstorm winds gusts estimated at 60 mph downed a few trees and broke some signs in Niobrara.
May 2004HailNiobrara-Mostly pea-size but a few reached dime size.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph uprooted a large tree which caused serious damage to a barn.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-A spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of around 60 mph in Niobrara. The winds destroyed 3 large metal garages west of town.
August 2002HailNiobrara-Hail up to 2 inches in diameter was reported in the Niobrara area over a period of 16 minutes.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-Thunderstorm winds downed numerous tree limbs, some up to 4 inches in diameter. Power was also knocked out to parts of town.
May 1999Tornado (F0)Niobrara-Brief touchdown.
May 2016HailNiobrara-no account filed
August 2011HailNiobrara-no account filed
June 2006HailNiobrara-no account filed
May 2004HailNiobrara-no account filed
August 2004HailNiobrara-no account filed
June 2002HailNiobrara-no account filed
July 2001HailNiobrara-no account filed
May 1998HailNiobrara-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-no account filed
June 1998HailNiobrara-no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-no account filed
July 1996HailNiobrara-no account filed
July 1995HailNiobrara-no account filed
July 1994Thunderstorm WindNiobrara-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Knox 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
Ponca3.8 miles11
Dukeville7.1 miles10
Sparta7.5 miles10
Verdel9.5 miles12
Pishelville9.9 miles10
Jelen10.7 miles10
Verdigre10.9 miles10
Santee11.1 miles9

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 NiobraraAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2183452The 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 831636. 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.