BlockBefore

Clifton, Colorado

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Clifton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81520. It lies near Moulton Valley. The Survey maps it on the Clifton quadrangle. 20,413 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,724 feet above sea level.

Clifton within Mesa County

On record in Clifton

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Clifton grew from 19,889 to 20,413 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
201019,889
202020,413+524 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 12 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

780 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 780 fires within 5 miles of Clifton between 1994 and 2020, burning about 375 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 5 were 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/undetermined669
Smoking31
Debris and open burning30
Recreation and ceremony13
Fireworks10
Equipment and vehicle use10
Natural5
Arson/incendiarism5
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Other causes1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreClifton Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreGrand Junction Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
8 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreClifton Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
8 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreGrand Junction Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
6 September 2019Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersN/A
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersN/A
30 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreClifton Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
30 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreClifton Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mesa County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Clifton: 8 unknowns, 2 occurrences, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Fire Clay (Refractory), Gypsum-Anhydrite. 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
GarfieldUraniumUnknown
UnknownFire Clay (Refractory)Occurrence
UnknownGypsum-AnhydriteOccurrenceSedimentary
Clay PitClayUnknown
Unnamed MineClayUnknown
Corn Const Co 30 1/2 Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Corn Construction Co 30 Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gearhart Mt GarfieldSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Golden PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Mesa County

Storms near this place

10 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clifton in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2020: 3 heavy rain, 2 lightning, 2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 1 death and 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 2006Heavy RainClifton1 killedno account filed
September 1998LightningClifton1 hurtno account filed
September 1997LightningClifton$2,000no account filed
June 2018Dust DevilClifton$1,000An intense dust devil crossed a back yard and yanked a strongly anchored trampoline up an into the air which then crashed to the ground and was totally destroyed. The rebar anchors had been embedded into the hard and dry clay ground to a depth of 18 inches. Roof shingles were also torn off the corner of the nearby house.
May 2009Thunderstorm WindClifton$500A microburst from a dry thunderstorm blew a trampoline about a hundred feet and knocked over some cottonwood trees. Other unsecured objects were blown away.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindClifton-A National Weather Service employee estimated a peak wind gust of 60 mph. A large portion of the employee's fence was blown down as a result of the winds.
August 2016Heavy RainClifton-In the Clifton area 0.52 of an inch of rain fell within 20 minutes.
May 2015HailClifton-Strong thunderstorms produced hail up to the size of quarters in the community of Clifton.
July 2008Heavy RainClifton-Rainfall of 0.67 inches occurred.
September 2003HailClifton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Mesa 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
Highland Park1.7 miles12
Pear Park1.9 miles12
Bridges Switch2.4 miles12
Johnsons Corner2.5 miles12
Fruitvale2.6 miles12
Mount Lincoln3.6 miles12
Palisade5.3 miles15
Grand Junction5.7 miles14

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 CliftonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1101367The 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 174618. 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.