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Ralston, Nebraska

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1982. It stands in Douglas precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 68127. It stands on Mockingbird Creek. The Survey maps it on the Ralston quadrangle. 6,494 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,145 feet above sea level.

Ralston within Douglas County

Population over time

2 figures

Ralston grew from 5,943 to 6,494 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
20105,943
20206,494+551 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 18 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

51 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 51 fires within 5 miles of Ralston between 2011 and 2020, burning about 16 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Debris and open burning11
Smoking7
Fireworks6
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Recreation and ceremony3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Natural1
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
4 September 2020Smokingunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
11 September 2012Smokingunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 August 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 August 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
24 August 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
2 August 2015Smokingunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
7 July 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Douglas County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Ralston: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Perlite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Zonolite Perlite PlantPerliteProducer

Every working recorded in Douglas County

Storms near this place

30 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ralston in 30 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 20 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 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
July 1996Thunderstorm WindRalston$50,000no account filed
April 2026HailRalston-Public report of hail estimated up to 1 inch in diameter near Ralston, NE.
April 2025HailRalston-Public estimated hail up to 1 inch in diameter, from mPING report.
April 2025HailRalston-Public estimated hail up to 1 inch in diameter.
April 2025HailRalston-Public estimated hail up to 1.25 inch in diameter.
April 2025HailRalston-Public measured hail up to 1 inch in diameter.
April 2025HailRalston-Public estimated hail up to 1 inch in diameter, from mPING report.
April 2025HailRalston-Public estimated hail up to 1 inch in diameter, from mPING report.
April 2024HailRalston-The office received a report from the public of quarter sized hail.
May 2024HailRalston-The office received a report of quarter sized hail via mPING.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindRalston-The office received a report from the public estimating 60 to 70 mph wind gusts. Power was knocked out across the area.
June 2024HailRalston-This is the start of a destructive swath of hail from a very slow moving supercell that impacted southern portions of the Omaha metro. Just before crossing the county line into Sarpy County, the office received a public report of quarter sized hail that fell in the Ralston area.
June 2024HailRalston-The office received a public report of half-dollar sized hail.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindRalston-Public sent a picture via social media of large tree limbs down.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindRalston-Public reported an estimated 60 mph wind gust.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindRalston-Public reported via mPing: 1-inch tree limbs broken; shingles blown off.
June 2022HailRalston-Public reported 2 inch hail via mPing.
June 2022HailRalston-Public reported several cars damaged due to 1.5 inch hail.
August 2021Flash FloodRalston-Public reported two cars stranded in flood waters along I80 in a low spot.
June 2014Flash FloodRalston-Numerous reports of flash flooding were received from the public, spotters and law enforcement. Rainfall from slow moving heavy thunderstorms ranged from 3 to 6 inches in southern Douglas County. The flooding was most prevalent along and south of Interstate 80 in south central Omaha where several streets were flooded leading to cars stalling and road closures.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindRalston-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph downed a tree in the Ralston area.
March 2006Thunderstorm WindRalston-Thunderstorm winds were estimated at 60 mph in Ralston. The strong winds could have been the result of a developing rear flank downdraft which helped spin up a weak tornado that caused some damage in the Papillion area.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindRalston-Thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph were estimated by a trained spotter in Ralston.
June 2005HailRalston-The hail lasted 3 to 5 minutes and was accompanied by 30 mph winds.
June 2016HailRalston-no account filed
May 2005HailRalston-no account filed
July 1999HailRalston-no account filed
June 1998HailRalston-no account filed
June 1998HailRalston-no account filed
May 1996HailRalston-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Douglas 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
Millard4.2 miles18
South Omaha4.3 miles15
Boys Town6.1 miles17
Omaha6.7 miles15
Lane6.8 miles19
Green Meadows6.8 miles17
Maplewood Estates7.2 miles18
Irvington8.0 miles18

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 RalstonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q959304The 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 832441. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.