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Potter, Nebraska

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Potter precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69156. The Survey maps it on the Potter quadrangle. 342 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,400 feet above sea level.

Potter within Cheyenne County

On record in Potter

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

Potter grew from 337 to 342 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
2010337
2020342+5 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 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

38 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 38 fires within 5 miles of Potter between 2007 and 2020, burning about 181 acres in total. 2 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/undetermined9
Railroad operations and maintenance8
Debris and open burning8
Equipment and vehicle use7
Natural2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Smoking2

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
9 September 2012Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
8 September 2007Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
27 September 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
24 September 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
23 September 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
22 September 2020Debris and open burning60 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
21 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined60 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
12 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cheyenne County

Storms near this place

60 of 89 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Potter in 89 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 54 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 12 tornado, 6 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
May 1997Flash FloodPotter$2,000,000Widespread flooding occurred along Lodgepole Creek and Sand Draw from heavy rains upstream in Kimball County. A 7 foot wall of water washed out a 30 foot section of a bridge on U.S. Highway 30 at Potter at 430 am MST.
June 1999HailPotter$250,000no account filed
June 1997HailPotter$30,000A line of thunderstorms producing hail up to 2 inches in diameter moved east across Potter into central Cheyenne County north of Interstate 80.
June 1997HailPotter$30,000no account filed
June 1997Tornado (F1)Potter$15,000Power poles downed, treetops snapped.
July 1996Thunderstorm WindPotter$15,000no account filed
June 2006HailPotter$10,000Penny to nickel sized hail reported. Semi-trailer blown over 5 miles east of Sidney, NE.
June 1997HailPotter$10,000no account filed
June 2009Flash FloodPotter$5,000Sidney Draw was flowing out of its banks 8 feet deep and 1/4 mile wide, and flowing over county road 8 with other county roads closed.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Potter$5,000Tornado skipped along track as it moved SSE over open country in western Cheyenne county, NE.Damage primarily limited to trees.
May 1998HailPotter$5,000A storm produced walnut size hail in Potter.
June 1997HailPotter$5,000no account filed
June 2025HailPotter-Cheyenne County EM reported quarter size and pea size hail in Potter.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindPotter-Storm chaser estimating 60 mph winds with half inch hail.
May 2025HailPotter-Law enforcement reported 1 in hail near Potter.
July 2025Tornado (EFU)Potter-Brief landspout ground circulation occurred 11 NNE Potter per multiple videos from the public. No damage occurred or was reported with the landspout as it remained in an open area away from infrastructure. No injuries, no fatalities, and no damage.
June 2025Tornado (EFU)Potter-Storm Chaser reports tornado on the ground briefly. Another report suggests intermittent touch downs.
June 2025Tornado (EFU)Potter-Storm chaser reports tornado touching down again.
June 2025Tornado (EFU)Potter-Storm chaser reports tornado touch down south of Potter around 7 PM.
June 2024HailPotter-The public reported golf ball sized hail 13 miles NE of Potter.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindPotter-Emergency Manager estimated 60 mph winds and pea sized hail in Potter.
September 2023HailPotter-A trained spotter reported golf ball sized hail 2 miles west of Potter.
September 2023HailPotter-An Emergency Manager reported 1-inch diameter hail in the town of Potter.
July 2021HailPotter-Spotter noted that nearby crops were damaged and associated wind gusts from thunderstorm knocked down two power line poles.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindPotter-Observer's personal use weather station measured the reported wind gust.
September 2018HailPotter-Quarter size hail was observed at Potter.
June 2018HailPotter-Quarter size hail was observed northeast of Potter.
August 2017HailPotter-Quarter size hail was observed northeast of Potter.
August 2017Tornado (EF0)Potter-A weak tornado touched down in open country eight miles north of Potter. The tornado was obscured by heavy rain. The tornado moved east and lifted 10 miles northeast of Potter. No damage was reported.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindPotter-Estimated 60 mph wind gusts were observed north of Potter.
June 2016HailPotter-Nickel to quarter size hail was reported at Potter.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindPotter-An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported at Potter.
June 2016HailPotter-Quarter size hail was reported at Potter.
July 2016HailPotter-Nickel to quarter size hail covered the ground five miles south of Potter.
June 2015HailPotter-Quarter size hail was observed 10 miles northeast of Potter.
July 2015HailPotter-Quarter size hail covered the ground 13 miles north of Potter.
July 2015HailPotter-Quarter size hail was observed eight miles south of Potter.
May 2014Flash FloodPotter-Flash flooding was observed along Lodgepole Creek, with six or more inches of water over Highway 30 east of Potter.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindPotter-Wind gusts were estimated near 60 mph in Potter.
June 2014HailPotter-Quarter size hail was observed a few miles west of Potter.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindPotter-Estimated wind gusts of 60 mph were observed a few miles west of Potter.
July 2013HailPotter-Dime to quarter size hail was reported northeast of Potter.
July 2012Flash FloodPotter-County Road 73 was partially washed out between County Roads 12 and 13.
May 2012Funnel CloudPotter-A funnel cloud was sighted south of Potter.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindPotter-Semi trailer blown over on Interstate 80. Emergency manager believes it was down burst wind.
June 2011Tornado (EF0)Potter-A trained spotter reported rope tornado over open range with no damage.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindPotter-Two large pine trees blown down by straight line winds.
June 2011Flash FloodPotter-Intersection of Highway 30 and County Road 26 flooded and impassable.
June 2011Flash FloodPotter-Flash flooding east of town at Point of Rocks.
July 2010Tornado (EF0)Potter-Tornado reported on ground near Road 12 south of Potter by public.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindPotter-Farmer said he probably lost his wheat crop.
July 2010HailPotter-Hail fell from 5 PM to 520 PM.
May 2010HailPotter-Hail is dime to half dollar size.
June 2009Tornado (EF0)Potter-Tornado briefly touched down, then dissipated.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Potter-Weak tornado reported to have briefly touched down over open country.
August 2003HailPotter-Penny to nickle size hail reported.
June 1999HailPotter-2 3/4 inch hail reported 4 miles north of Potter, NE
July 1999HailPotter-3/4 inch hail fell 1 mile north of Potter, NE
June 1997Tornado (F0)Potter-Brief touchdown in open country.
June 2022HailPotter-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cheyenne 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
Point of Rocks3.7 miles8
Mount Vernon9.8 miles8
Brownson10.9 miles8
Ordville (historical)11.1 miles8
Lorenzo17.6 miles8
Huntsman18.1 miles11
Sidney18.6 miles11
Gurley19.7 miles11

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 PotterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2606007The 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 832328. 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.