Ogallala

History

Ogallala first was founded as a terminus for cattle drives that traveled from Texas to the Union Pacific railhead located there. These trails are known as the Western or Great Western trails. The Union Pacific Railroad reached Ogallala on May 24, 1867. The city itself was not laid out until 1875 and not incorporated until 1884 The town's name comes from the Oglala Sioux tribe. Rowdy cowboys made this a dangerous place to be during the cattle drive months resulting in Ogallala getting a reputation as both "The Town Too Tough For Texas" and "Gomorrah of the West".

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Ogallala is in the US Mountain Time Zone (UTC−7/-6). Ogallala is close to Lake McConaughy, a large man-made lake and a state recreation area with sandy beaches, boating and swimming. The South Platte River runs through Ogallala. Ogallala has a dry humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) using the boundary, or a humid continental climate (Dfa) under the boundary. In either case it is close to being classified as a cool semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with an annual average precipitation of . Winters are cold but extremely variable due to conflicts between very warm chinook winds and frigid Arctic outbreaks: February 1954 had a mean maximum of , whereas January 1979 had a mean minimum of and February 1936 a mean low of . On average thirteen mornings fall below during an average window from December 15 to February 16, although forty-five mornings reached this temperature in 1978–79 but none at all in 1999–2000. Summers are hot and often stormy: 45 afternoons on average reach and five reach . Precipitation is greatest in the late spring and summer, with winter being the driest part of the year. The wettest calendar year has been 1915 with and the driest 2022 with . The wettest month has been July 2002 with . The snowiest month has been March 1980 with ; in contrast, the entire season from July 2025 to June 2026 saw just of snow.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,271
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  1,196
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,111
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  928
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  837
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  832
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  812
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  796