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Platte Center, Nebraska

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Lost Creek Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68653. It stands on Elm Creek. The Survey maps it on the Platte Center quadrangle. 333 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,526 feet above sea level.

Platte Center within Platte County

Population over time

2 figures

Platte Center fell from 336 to 333 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
2010336
2020333-3 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

12 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Platte Center between 2003 and 2015, burning about 19 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 burning6
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Fireworks1

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
20 August 2003Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
18 July 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 June 2010Fireworksunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
2 April 2010Railroad operations and maintenance2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
7 March 2015Debris and open burning2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
22 March 2015Debris and open burning2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
16 March 2009Debris and open burning4.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
11 March 2015Railroad operations and maintenance5.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Platte County

Storms near this place

47 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Platte Center in 47 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 25 hail, 6 flash flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 5 flood. The reports record 1 death. 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
March 2019FloodPlatte Center1 killedThis is for flooding along the Shell Creek. The river gage near Columbus, operated by the USGS, peaked at 22.21 feet at 7:30 am on March 14th. Major flood stage is 22 feet. Preliminary data shows that this peak is the 2nd highest on record. US Highway 81 was flooded over from high waters from Shell Creek. Much rural property was inundated by flood waters. A bridges were taken out by flooding. A Columbus man drowned on the 14th while driving his tractor north on, 175th Avenue and over the Shell Creek Bridge. The bridge gave way and the man was swept away by flood waters. Dollar amounts for the county are included in the Loup River flood entry.
June 2010FloodPlatte Center$2,000Rainfall of another 1 to 2 inches June 22 fell across parts of the Shell Creek basin near and north of Columbus. The rains fell on saturated soils due to the over 5 to 8 inches of rain that fell earlier in the month. This produced some lowland flooding along Shell Creek from near Platte Center to east of Highway 81. The high water closed county roads and Highway 81 for a while on the 23rd and 24th in addition to flooding farmland along the creek.
May 2008Flash FloodPlatte Center$200Heavy rain caused water to flow over a few roads in the Platte Center area with mud and other debris on the road. The flooding was along Shell Creek tributaries and subsided after a short time.
May 2024Funnel CloudPlatte Center-Emergency management reported a funnel cloud northwest of Platte Center.
April 2024Tornado (EF0)Platte Center-This tornado track is based entirely on eyewitness reports as there was no damage indicated along the entirety of the intermittent track. Emergency management, storm spotters, and video evidence indicate that the tornado began approximately 3 miles southwest of Platte Center. it moved northeast where it crossed the Central Highway road a half mile east of 325th Avenue. From that point on, it became more intermittent, occasionally kicking up dust at the ground underneath the persistent funnel cloud. There were times, especially during the intermittent phase, when the ground-level circulation went through center pivot irrigation systems without tipping them over, which has stood as the basis for rating this as an EF-0 tornado. Video evidence suggests that it was approximately 50 yards wide at its maximum width.
July 2024HailPlatte Center-The office received a public report of hail ranging from nickel to golf ball sized. It was also reported that crops were shredded from the hail in this area.
July 2023HailPlatte Center-Trained spotter reported 1.25-inch hail.
May 2023HailPlatte Center-Public reported 1.75-inch hail.
May 2023HailPlatte Center-CoCoRaHS observer reported 1.75-inch hail.
May 2022Funnel CloudPlatte Center-Public reported a funnel cloud spotted from Highway 81.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindPlatte Center-Personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 59 mph.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindPlatte Center-Personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 65 mph.
April 2022HailPlatte Center-Emergency manager reported 1 inch hail.
April 2022HailPlatte Center-Trained spotter reported 1.25 inch hail.
April 2022HailPlatte Center-Emergency manager reported golf ball sized hail.
April 2022Flash FloodPlatte Center-Emergency manager reported numerous flooded county roads.
December 2021Tornado (EF1)Platte Center-A tornado developed over an open field south of town and north of the creek where it tipped over two sections of an irrigation pivot. The tornado proceeded north northeast into Platte Center, causing damage to a garage and snapping several trees. The maximum damage occurred between 2nd and 4th streets where a large metal building with wood construction had the wind enter the doors, uplift the roof, and collapse the walls as the entire building shifted and collapsed to the northeast. Very large trees were blown down and one home lost much of its roof. The damage became less notable over the next block and dissipated near the elementary school.
May 2019Heavy RainPlatte Center-Up to 6.5 inches of rain in Platte Center.
May 2019FloodPlatte Center-Closure of the south bound lane of Highway 81 due to flooding along Shell Creek.
June 2018Flash FloodPlatte Center-Heavy rainfall of 4 to 6 1/2 inches caused flash flooding in parts of Platte County. Flooding in Platte Center and nearby areas required sandbagging to occur to reduce the effects of flooding. Flooding started on the evening of the 24th and continued into the morning of the 25th.
June 2018FloodPlatte Center-Highway 81 was closed due to flooding of Shell Creek from 4 to 6 1/2 inch rainfall.
September 2016Flash FloodPlatte Center-The emergency manager reported that heavy rainfall in excess of 4 inches led to flooding of Central Highway.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindPlatte Center-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at around 60 mph downed some large tree limbs near Platte Center.
June 2011HailPlatte Center-From the same supercell thunderstorm that produced a tornado south of the area.
May 2011Flash FloodPlatte Center-Heavy rain cause brief flash-flooding of at least one road near Platte Center. Rainfall at the Loup Power Plant northeast of Columbus totaled over 3 inches from the storms this night, and some street flooding was also reported in Columbus. Any damage due to flooding was apparently minimal.
June 2008Flash FloodPlatte Center-Heavy rain caused flash flooding of county roads along Shell Creek from around Lindsay to Platte Center. Rainfall in the northwest part of the county was estimated at 2 to 3 inches.
February 2007FloodPlatte Center-Ice jams along Shell Creek from near Platte Center to northeast of Columbus flooded some lowland farmlands and a few county roads in the area.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindPlatte Center-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated at over 60 mph by emergency management in Platte Center. The winds downed large tree branches in the Platte Center and Humphrey areas.
July 2003Tornado (F1)Platte Center-This tornado was also caught on film and caused damage to buildings at 3 farmsteads and severely damaged at least 50 trees. Several center pivot irrigation systems were knocked over and a 500 gallon fuel barrel was tossed into an adjacent field.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindPlatte Center-Emergency management of Platte county estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of around 65 mph.
April 2017HailPlatte Center-no account filed
June 2017HailPlatte Center-no account filed
May 2015HailPlatte Center-no account filed
May 2013HailPlatte Center-no account filed
June 2009HailPlatte Center-no account filed
April 2006HailPlatte Center-no account filed
July 2003HailPlatte Center-no account filed
April 2003HailPlatte Center-no account filed
May 2003HailPlatte Center-no account filed
May 2003HailPlatte Center-no account filed
April 2002HailPlatte Center-no account filed
July 2002HailPlatte Center-no account filed
June 2002HailPlatte Center-no account filed
May 2002HailPlatte Center-no account filed
August 2002HailPlatte Center-no account filed
August 2000HailPlatte Center-no account filed
July 1996HailPlatte Center-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Platte 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
Oconee4.9 miles14
Tarnov5.5 miles9
Sheldonville6.1 miles13
Monroe7.3 miles14
College View Park8.1 miles13
Countryview Estates8.1 miles13
Wagners Lake9.7 miles13
Columbus9.8 miles12

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 Platte CenterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q743052The 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 832155. 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.