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Sarben, Nebraska

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Paxton precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69155. The Survey maps it on the Paxton North quadrangle. 31 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Sarben within Keith County

Population over time

2 figures

Sarben grew from 31 to 31 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
201031
2020310 (0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 14 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

45 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 45 fires within 5 miles of Sarben between 2004 and 2020, burning about 354 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 use12
Debris and open burning12
Railroad operations and maintenance7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony2
Natural1

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
25 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
2 September 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
19 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
10 September 2009Equipment and vehicle use1.5 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
4 August 2008Debris and open burning45 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
3 August 2008Natural5.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
28 August 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
22 August 2012Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Keith County

Storms near this place

32 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sarben in 32 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 24 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud. 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
August 2017HailSarben$100,000Golf ball sized hail along with 40 to 50 MPH wind damaged siding on numerous houses, broke windows and wind shields on numerous cars in Sarben.
June 2015HailSarben$20,000The fire department reported that hail up to softball size knocked out all windows on the north side of the house and most windows of the vehicles on the property.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindSarben$20,000A trained spotter reported a grain bin destroyed and moved 300 to 400 yards.
September 2025HailSarben-Public reports quarter sized hail along with torrential rainfall at this location.
July 2023HailSarben-Fire department reported golf ball size hail north of Sarben.
July 2020HailSarben-Golf ball size hail was reported via social media.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindSarben-Elm tree uprooted.
June 2018Tornado (EF0)Sarben-Tornado touched down briefly in an open field with no damage reported.
August 2017HailSarben-Tennis ball sized hail reported at this location.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindSarben-Thunderstorm wind gusts to 60 MPH along with tennis ball sized hail, severely damaged crops at this location.
July 2015HailSarben-In addition to quarter sized hail, 60 MPH wind gusts were reported.
August 2012LightningSarben-A lightning strike ignited a wildfire at the Glen Echo area that burned an estimated 7,500 acres of grassland and timber. Areas of canyon and creek valley were inaccessible for ground firefighting. The wildfire moved into southwest McPherson County.
August 2011HailSarben-Tennis ball size hail fell four miles north of Paxton, while half dollar size hail was reported in the city of Paxton. Also, heavy crop damage occurred from this large hail with total loss for approximately 1000 acres.
August 2011Funnel CloudSarben-A wall cloud produced several brief funnel clouds approximately 10 miles west of Sutherland.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindSarben-The public reported 60 mph wind gusts.
July 2009HailSarben-Most of the hail stones were nickel size, but some were as large as quarters.
June 2008Flash FloodSarben-Law enforcement reported water over US highway 30 two miles east of Paxton. Numerous secondary roads were partially washed away.
June 2022HailSarben-no account filed
May 2019HailSarben-no account filed
August 2018HailSarben-no account filed
August 2017HailSarben-no account filed
August 2017HailSarben-no account filed
June 2015HailSarben-no account filed
June 2015HailSarben-no account filed
June 2014HailSarben-no account filed
June 2014HailSarben-no account filed
June 2014HailSarben-no account filed
May 2010HailSarben-no account filed
July 2009HailSarben-no account filed
July 2009HailSarben-no account filed
May 2000HailSarben-no account filed
August 1996HailSarben-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Keith 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
Paxton3.8 miles14
Nevens6.4 miles14
Broganville11.5 miles16
Roscoe15.0 miles16
Keystone15.1 miles16
Martin21.3 miles16
Ogallala22.0 miles16
Lemoyne27.8 miles16

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 SarbenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6121846The 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 834975. 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.