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Dinosaur, Colorado

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Dinosaur census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81610. It lies near Sand Draw. The Survey maps it on the Dinosaur quadrangle. 243 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,922 feet above sea level.

Dinosaur within Moffat County

On record in Dinosaur

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Dinosaur fell from 339 to 243 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
2010339
2020243-96 (-28%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 18 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

85 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 85 fires within 5 miles of Dinosaur between 1992 and 2020, burning about 710 acres in total. 64 started naturally. 2 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
Natural64
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Smoking3
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Debris and open burning2
Arson/incendiarism2
Equipment and vehicle use2

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
6 September 2003Naturalunder an acreNorthwest District, CraigONE16
3 September 1993Debris and open burningunder an acreDinosaur National MonumentDUMPSTER
28 September 1992Naturalunder an acreNorthwest District, CraigTHE SKULL
28 September 1992Naturalunder an acreDinosaur National MonumentSKULL
17 September 2007Naturalunder an acreNorthwest District, CraigEISENHOWER
16 September 2013Naturalunder an acreNorthwest District, CraigPLUG
16 September 2003Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreDinosaur National MonumentBONE YARD
13 September 2019Naturalunder an acreDinosaur National MonumentPLUG HAT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Moffat County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Dinosaur: 2 occurrences, 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium, Vanadium. 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
Colute ClaimsUranium, VanadiumOccurrenceStratiform
Cottonwood Creek Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerUnconsolidated Sediments
Cottonwood Creek Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceGravel

Every working recorded in Moffat County

Storms near this place

13 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dinosaur in 13 storm reports between 1998 and 2011: 5 wildfire, 2 tornado, 2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. 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
June 2011Thunderstorm WindDinosaur-Thunderstorm wind gusts to 60 mph and half inch sized hail were reported in Dinosaur.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindDinosaur-A severe thunderstorm with pea sized hail and winds estimated at 60 mph were reported at the Dinosaur National Monument area.
August 2009Tornado (EF0)Dinosaur-A tornado was observed by many people in the Rangely area and also photographed by a couple of individuals. The tornado remained over open country during its lifespan. The tornado track location is an estimate based on triangulation of eyewitness reports.
September 2007HailDinosaur-Nickel size hail occurred at Dinosaur National Monument Headquarters.
September 2007HailDinosaur-Hail covered the ground.
August 2006Tornado (F1)Dinosaur-no account filed
July 2005Heavy RainDinosaur-no account filed
July 2001WildfireDinosaur-no account filed
August 2001WildfireDinosaur-no account filed
July 2000WildfireDinosaur-no account filed
July 2000WildfireDinosaur-no account filed
July 1999Flash FloodDinosaur-no account filed
August 1998WildfireDinosaur-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Moffat 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
Blue Mountain8.1 miles12
Robinson Place11.3 miles15
Jack Springs18.1 miles12
Massadona19.8 miles12
Elk Springs31.0 miles15
Greystone31.0 miles11
Craig Place33.0 miles13
Wilson Place36.3 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 DinosaurAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2076262The 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 171542. 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.