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Oconto, Nebraska

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Wood River Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68860. The Survey maps it on the Oconto quadrangle. 138 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,575 feet above sea level.

Oconto within Custer County

Population over time

2 figures

Oconto fell from 151 to 138 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
2010151
2020138-13 (-9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 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

3 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Oconto between 2002 and 2008, burning about 60 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
Equipment and vehicle use1
Natural1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
22 August 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
29 July 2005Natural60 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
1 December 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Every fire recorded in Custer County

Storms near this place

60 of 119 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oconto in 119 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 92 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 8 tornado, 2 flash 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
October 2000Tornado (F2)Oconto$2,000,000The tornado moved out of Dawson county into south central Custer county 7 miles south southwest of Oconto. The tornado traveled across open rangeland until destroying a modular home 1 mile south of Oconto. The tornado then moved directly through the small community of Oconto producing extensive damage. Every building along main street was either damaged or destroyed. A community center was destroyed while 19 children and 4 adults were in the basement. Over half the homes in the small town suffered minor to major damage. The community was declared a disaster areas by the governor. The tornado knocked down a power line 2 miles north of Oconto before lifting.
March 2019FloodOconto$500,000Bridge abutment crossing the South Loup River on Highway 21 northeast of Oconto destroyed.
March 2019FloodOconto$200,000Street flooding reported in Oconto.
May 2004HailOconto$150,000Hail completely shredded wheat fields and newly planted corn northwest of Oconto. Roofs and siding on nearly every home and business were severely damaged. Vehicles sustained severe body damage along with broken windows.
April 2007Tornado (EF1)Oconto$125,000This tornado formed southwest of Gothenburg in Dawson County (see Storm Data for Nebraska, South Central for more information on the beginning portion of this tornado) and tracked north before entering Custer County about 21 miles west southwest of Oconto at 9:35 PM CST. The tornado continued for another 7 miles before dissipating 17 miles southwest of Callaway at 9:40 PM CST. In Custer County, the tornado destroyed a barn, chicken house, milk house, an oil bin, and two dryer bins. In addition, it overturned center pivot irrigation systems, snapped and uprooted trees, and broke off power poles. While in Dawson County, the tornado was rated an F2 but was rated an F1 in Custer County.
July 2000HailOconto$100,000no account filed
May 2004Tornado (F1)Oconto$50,000The tornado overturned a center pivot irrigation system and ripped a 90 foot section of roof off a hog confinement building. It also broke large limbs off trees.
July 2009HailOconto$50,000no account filed
May 2004Tornado (F1)Oconto$40,000The tornado touched down in a field on the southeast side of Oconto. As it moved across the field, it overturned a center pivot irrigation system.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindOconto$30,000Thunderstorm winds snapped off numerous large tree limbs. Four homes sustained damage from falling trees.
May 2019Tornado (EF1)Oconto$15,000Tornado touched down in a field and damaged a pole barn, snapped a large tree and produced minor porch damage to a homestead. A horse trailer was rolled over two wooden fences and a metal fence prior to landing in a horse corral.
July 2000HailOconto$15,000no account filed
July 2000HailOconto$15,000no account filed
June 2001HailOconto$10,0001.75 to 2.75 inch hail was reported.
August 2001HailOconto$10,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindOconto$8,000Numerous trees and power poles were broken off in Oconto.
May 2004HailOconto$8,000no account filed
August 2002HailOconto$8,000no account filed
June 2001HailOconto$6,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindOconto$5,000Power lines and trees were blown down.
June 2000HailOconto$5,00060 mph wind
May 1998Thunderstorm WindOconto$5,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 MPH damaged trees
June 2009HailOconto$5,000no account filed
May 2000HailOconto$5,000no account filed
May 2004HailOconto$2,000no account filed
May 2004HailOconto$2,000no account filed
August 2002HailOconto$2,000no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindOconto$1,000Large tree limbs down
August 2005HailOconto$1,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindOconto$1,000no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindOconto$500Six inch tree limbs were knocked down by the winds.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindOconto-Custer County Emergency Management reported two large healthy trees downed, along with one falling on a house near Oconto.
April 2021HailOconto-Hail size was mainly quarters and nickels, with some half dollar size.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindOconto-Trained weather spotter reported center irrigation pivots blown over... estimated to be 70 mph winds.
August 2019Flash FloodOconto-Multiple county roads under water.
September 2019HailOconto-Nickel to quarter sized hail reported at this location.
May 2016HailOconto-Quarter to nickle size hail reported.
September 2014HailOconto-Quarter size hail fell from the passing thunderstorm.
September 2014HailOconto-Quarter size hail fell as the thunderstorm passed, along with 40 to 50 mile per hour winds and heavy rain.
August 2014HailOconto-Ping pong sized hail and very heavy rain was reported.
June 2013Heavy RainOconto-CO-OP observer had 1.45 inches of rain within 15 minutes.
June 2013Flash FloodOconto-Several feet of water was reported over Red Fern road west of Oconto.
July 2013Tornado (EF0)Oconto-At 1615CDT, a tornado developed 14 miles south of Callaway and moved northeast before dissipating in open rangeland. The path width was 75 yards with no damage observed.
July 2013Tornado (EF0)Oconto-At 1616CDT, a tornado touched down near 5 miles south of Oconto and moved northeast before dissipating less than a quarter mile in an open field. Average path width was 20 yards with no damage reported.
April 2008HailOconto-Law enforcement reported golf ball sized hail covering the ground 5 miles north of Oconto.
May 2008Funnel CloudOconto-A funnel cloud was spotted 1 to 2 miles south of Oconto. No damage was reported and the event lasted 20 to 30 seconds.
May 2008HailOconto-Hail the size of pea to penny covered the ground.
May 2004Tornado (F0)Oconto-Storm spotters reported a brief tornado touchdown over open rangeland.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindOconto-Trees were blown down and a center pivot irrigation system was flipped over.
July 2025HailOconto-no account filed
September 2023HailOconto-no account filed
June 2022HailOconto-no account filed
June 2022HailOconto-no account filed
June 2022HailOconto-no account filed
June 2020HailOconto-no account filed
May 2019HailOconto-no account filed
July 2018HailOconto-no account filed
August 2018HailOconto-no account filed
August 2017HailOconto-no account filed
August 2017HailOconto-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Custer 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
Lodi7.0 miles11
Burr Oak10.8 miles11
Buckeye10.9 miles11
Callaway13.4 miles11
Cumro14.6 miles11
Broken Bow19.2 miles12
Berwyn20.1 miles11
Etna20.9 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 OcontoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2098696The 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 831827. 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.