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Wauneta, Nebraska

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1979. It stands in Wauneta precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69045. The Survey maps it on the Wauneta East quadrangle. 549 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,943 feet above sea level.

Wauneta within Chase County

On record in Wauneta

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

Wauneta fell from 577 to 549 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
2010577
2020549-28 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 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

5 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Wauneta between 2004 and 2010, burning about 5 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 use4
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
7 July 2007Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
3 July 2007Natural1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
13 July 2010Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
12 July 2010Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
5 May 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Every fire recorded in Chase County

Storms near this place

60 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wauneta in 60 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 36 hail, 20 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 lightning. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 2002LightningWauneta2 hurtLightning struck two teenage boys as they corralled cattle. One boy was struck and then the lightning bolt branched off striking the other boy. Both were knocked unconscious. The first boy that was struck was treated for 2nd degree burns on his legs, chest, and bottoms of feet and 3rd degree burns on his arms. The second boy that was struck only received minor injuries.
June 2010FloodWauneta$100,000Thunderstorms with prolonged heavy rain falling on already saturated ground caused low land flooding along the Stinking Water Creek in eastern Chase County. Water was flowing over several county roads.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindWauneta$50,000Damaging winds in excess of 60 mph caused extensive large tree damage in Wauneta. Structural damage occurred to a home by a fallen tree with a center pivot irrigation system was overturned.
October 1997Thunderstorm WindWauneta$50,000Thunderstorm winds in excess of 60 mph caused significant damage to a farm house and barn.
March 2007Thunderstorm WindWauneta$30,000Thunderstorm outflow winds destroyed a milk barn at a farmstead.
March 2007Thunderstorm WindWauneta$30,000Thunderstorm outflow winds lifted the metal roof off the Frenchman Valley Coop building and deposited it in the road with some pieces breaking windows in nearby businesses. Harchelroad Motors also sustained roof damage to their business and had windows broken out of several vehicles. Other vehicles were lifted and turned.
June 2024HailWauneta$25,000Hail up to 3 inches in diameter was reported along with numerous car windows broken out in Wauneta.
June 2003HailWauneta$15,000no account filed
June 2011HailWauneta$10,000General public reported siding and roof damage caused by golf ball sized hail.
August 2004HailWauneta$6,000no account filed
May 2005HailWauneta$5,000no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindWauneta$1,000Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH blew sheets of tin across a field.
June 2011HailWauneta$1,000General public reported quarter to half dollar sized hail caused siding damage on west side of home along with one broken window.
June 2025HailWauneta-Quarter sized hail along with 50 to 60 MPH winds reported at this location.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindWauneta-Public estimates 60 MPH wind gusts along with heavy rain.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindWauneta-Trained spotter reports 60 MPH winds in Wauneta.
July 2023HailWauneta-Public reported quarter size hail near Wauneta.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindWauneta-A personal weather station north of Wauneta measured a 58 mph wind gust.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindWauneta-Power outage reported in Wauneta.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindWauneta-Estimated 60 mph wind gust.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindWauneta-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 to 70 MPH in the city of Wauneta.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindWauneta-Public estimated 75 mph wind gusts.
July 2015HailWauneta-Hail ranged in size from golf ball to teacup.
June 2011HailWauneta-Chase County Sheriff reported golf ball sized hail and very heavy rain in Wauneta.
June 2008Tornado (EF0)Wauneta-A supercell tornado touched down briefly over open rangeland. The supercell also produced 3 other tornadoes in Chase County.
May 2008Tornado (EF0)Wauneta-Trained spotters reported a brief tornado touchdown over an open field. After the storm, a rooster pheasant was found with no feathers.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindWauneta-A severe thunderstorm moved through Chase County. The storm was accompanied by very large hail, damaging wind, and several reports of funnel clouds. Bean and corn crops north and west of Imperial were damaged extensively. In Imperial, numerous trees were uprooted by the wind, two power poles were broken, and lines were blown down. The damage to utilities in Imperial required about 280 man-hours of overtime to repair. At the Trinidad Bean facility, bins and doors were damaged by the wind.
July 1995HailWauneta-Thunderstorm winds and golfball hail knocked down trees destroyed a hog shed and blew the roof off a trailer home.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindWauneta-Four inches of rain in twenty minutes caused street flooding in Wauneta. A farmhouse northwest of town was damaged by strong winds.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindWauneta-no account filed
June 2024HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2024HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2023HailWauneta-no account filed
August 2020HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2016HailWauneta-no account filed
July 2015HailWauneta-no account filed
July 2015HailWauneta-no account filed
July 2015HailWauneta-no account filed
August 2013HailWauneta-no account filed
August 2011HailWauneta-no account filed
June 2010HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindWauneta-no account filed
May 2008HailWauneta-no account filed
September 2007HailWauneta-no account filed
June 2007HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2006HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2005HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2004HailWauneta-no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindWauneta-no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindWauneta-no account filed
June 2003Thunderstorm WindWauneta-no account filed
June 2003HailWauneta-no account filed
August 2002HailWauneta-no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindWauneta-no account filed
May 1999HailWauneta-no account filed
August 1998HailWauneta-no account filed
July 1996HailWauneta-no account filed
May 1996HailWauneta-no account filed
October 1996HailWauneta-no account filed
July 1995HailWauneta-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Chase 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
Enders9.0 miles7
Imperial15.9 miles7
Champion20.3 miles7
Crete25.7 miles7
Chase25.9 miles8
Lamar33.9 miles8

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 WaunetaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q432615The 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 834507. 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.