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Wood Lake, Nebraska

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Wood Lake precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69221. The Survey maps it on the Wood Lake quadrangle. 46 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,694 feet above sea level.

Wood Lake within Cherry County

Population over time

2 figures

Wood Lake fell from 63 to 46 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
201063
202046-17 (-27%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

3 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Wood Lake between 2004 and 2011, burning about 14 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
Equipment and vehicle use2
Debris and open burning1

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
30 April 2011Debris and open burning3.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
12 March 2004Equipment and vehicle use10 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 December 2005Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Every fire recorded in Cherry County

Storms near this place

60 of 81 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wood Lake in 81 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 57 hail, 17 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 injury. 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 1996LightningWood Lake1 hurtno account filed
July 2000Tornado (F1)Wood Lake$40,000A tornado touched down 7 miles northwest of Johnstown and was intermittently on the ground producing tree damage in Brown county. The tornado continued to touch down intermittently and grew to a width of a quarter mile near the Brown and Cherry county line. This is where the tornado caused the most extensive damage, destroying a large grove of trees, a calving shed, and moving a barn from its foundation, 8 miles southwest of Johnstown. The tornado proceeded to move nearly straight south in Cherry county and continued to cause extensive tree damage, and moved and destroyed several 1500 lb hay bales, 17 miles north of Elsmere. The tornado last touched down 10 miles north of Elsmere causing tree damage.
August 2011Tornado (EF3)Wood Lake$15,000A tornado developed five miles south-southeast of Wood Lake and traveled to the south. It was on the ground for approximately 20 minutes and was up to a maximum of a half mile wide with maximum winds of 140 m.p.h. The tornado caused damage to two tree groves. One tree was debarked, uprooted, and moved while several other trees were uprooted. Additionally, a windmill was destroyed and another three were damaged; a steel culvert from Plum Creek washed out and was broken and displaced three-quarters a mile downstream. Also, two miles of barb wire fencing was destroyed.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindWood Lake$12,000The winds broke off 4 to 6 inch diameter cottonwood tree limbs.
July 2010HailWood Lake$10,000Delayed public report of hail to the size of golfballs that broke severe windows out of their home and stripped or knocked down all the hay in the area. Wind gusts exceeding 60 mph was also reported during the event.
July 2010HailWood Lake$10,000Hail broke out all of the north facings windows on the house. Winds estimated in excess of 60 mph.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindWood Lake$10,000A storm chaser reported inflow winds into the supercell storm to be 55 mph with gusts to 70 mph. Several power poles were broken due to the winds.
May 2001HailWood Lake$10,000Vehicle damage and numerous windows broken in homes.
July 2001HailWood Lake$10,000no account filed
July 2001HailWood Lake$6,000no account filed
June 2011HailWood Lake$5,000Golf ball sized hail broke out several windows of a home.
August 2011Tornado (EF1)Wood Lake$3,000The tornado destroyed a 12 foot by 16 foot storage building and rolled a metal calving shed over 300 feet. Three large hay bails were rolled up an incline and damaged fencing and a swing set. A detached garage door was also damaged and the chimney was torn off of the house.
June 2009HailWood Lake$3,000no account filed
July 2003HailWood Lake$3,000no account filed
May 2008HailWood Lake$1,000no account filed
April 2007HailWood Lake$1,000no account filed
May 2022HailWood Lake-Report VIA social media. Time estimated by radar.
May 2022HailWood Lake-Half dollar size hail was reported at this location.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Large tree branches reported down near Ballards Marsh. Report taken via social media.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Thunderstorm wind gusts, estimated at 60 MPH and large tree limbs were reported down at this location.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-No information available.
May 2016HailWood Lake-Nickle to quarter sized hail along with gusty winds were reported.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Public estimated 60 mph wind gusts.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Public estimated 60 mph wind gusts.
July 2015HailWood Lake-Hail fell for ten minutes.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Thunderstorm wind gust to 60 MPH reported at this location.
October 2011Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph by public.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Public reported wind gusts to 60 mph measured with home weather station.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Public estimated 60 mph winds occurring with nickel to quarter sized hail.
August 2011Tornado (EF0)Wood Lake-The tornado briefly touched down with no damage being observed and was rated as an EF0. The spotter indicated the condensation funnel did not extend completely from the funnel to the ground, but debris was seen flying under the funnel.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Many trees were blown down and building damage was also observed. Winds of greater than 60 m.p.h. lasted for about 20 minutes in this area.
June 2011HailWood Lake-Public reported quarter sized hail.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Public estimated wind at least 60 mph if not greater.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Thunderstorms produced severe criteria wind gusts to the southeast of the Valentine area.
June 2009Heavy RainWood Lake-The storm dropped 2.40 inches of rain in 30 minutes.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Numerous large tree branches were blown down.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-The public estimated winds at 60 mph or higher.
June 2009HailWood Lake-The public reported 1.5 inches of rain along with the hail.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindWood Lake-Thunderstorm wind gusts greater than 60 mph broke off numerous tree limbs .
June 2025HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2025HailWood Lake-no account filed
April 2024HailWood Lake-no account filed
May 2022HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2018HailWood Lake-no account filed
May 2018HailWood Lake-no account filed
May 2016HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2014HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2014HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2010HailWood Lake-no account filed
May 2009HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2009HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2009HailWood Lake-no account filed
August 2009HailWood Lake-no account filed
August 2009HailWood Lake-no account filed
June 2009HailWood Lake-no account filed
August 2008HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2008HailWood Lake-no account filed
July 2008HailWood Lake-no account filed
May 2007HailWood Lake-no account filed
May 2007HailWood Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cherry 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
Arabia9.6 miles8
Thatcher16.7 miles10
Piercy Place20.6 miles10
Sparks20.9 miles10
Hartgraves Place22.0 miles10
Valentine23.1 miles10
Conterra24.6 miles9
Simeon25.6 miles9

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 Wood LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2130552The 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 834857. 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.