Laird, Colorado
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Wray census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80758. It stands on Rush Creek. The Survey maps it on the Laird quadrangle. 46 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,406 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLaird fell from 47 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 47 | |
| 2020 | 46 | -1 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 9 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1954 USGS Sterling quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Sterling quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Laird quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1981 USGS Wray quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
3 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Laird between 2011 and 2017, burning under an acre 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 March 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wray Volunteer Fire Department (Yuma County Fire Protection District) | UNKNOWN |
| 30 March 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wray Volunteer Fire Department (Yuma County Fire Protection District) | UNKNOWN |
| 16 March 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | WRAY |
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Laird: 7 occurrences, 4 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel | |
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel | |
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel | |
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel | |
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel | |
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
43 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Laird in 43 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 32 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laird | $30,000 | A thunderstorm wind gust destroyed a grain bin at a farmstead. |
| August 1993 | Hail | Laird | $5,000 | Severe thunderstorms rolled across portions of Northeast Colorado, dropping hail up to golfball-size. The hail caused considerable damage to crops and buildings across Phillips and Yuma Counties. |
| July 1995 | Hail | Laird | $500 | Golf ball hail broke windows and damaged siding. |
| July 2020 | Flash Flood | Laird | $100 | As the heavy rainfall expanded west, so did the flooding. Highway 34 was closed from the state line west to Wray due to flooding. The ball fields on the east side of Wray were also flooded. There was plenty of erosion/damage along the edges of the Republican River. There were also lots of basements flooded (around 15-20 significantly). Damage from the flood waters is unknown at this time. One thing the Wray City Manager wanted to be noted was that there are 6 flood control dams on the south side of the town. These worked perfectly and slowed the water. Had the system failed, the flooding damage would have been much worse. |
| July 2020 | Flood | Laird | $100 | Areal pictures show the flooding mainly confined to the Republican River valley continuing well into the daylight hours. Fields were flooded along the river, as well as water running over roads. Anything in Wray along the Republican River was flooded. This included parks, buildings, and some streets that didn't have a large capacity for drainage underneath. Based on footage during the daytime, Highway 34 west out of Wray did not have water over it. Damage from the flooding is not know at this time. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Laird | - | A trained spotter reported the quarter size hail. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Laird | - | The public estimated ping pong to golf ball size hail. |
| August 2024 | Hail | Laird | - | Quarter to half dollar sized hail fell for a about two minutes. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Laird | - | Pea to quarter sized hail observed. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Laird | - | Public estimated 1 inch diameter hail fell. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Laird | - | Hail larger than golf balls in size reported via social media at location. Hail broke a vehicle side mirror and a tail light as well as put several dents into the vehicle. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Laird | - | Golf ball sized hail reported. |
| May 2020 | Hail | Laird | - | Dime size hail covering the ground reported via social media. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Laird | - | Public citizen observed hail up to tennis ball in size. Most of the hail was nickel to quarter in size. As hail fell at the location, winds were estimated to have 40 mph gusts. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laird | - | The severe winds blew tree branches down. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laird | - | Public reported very heavy rainfall and a tree blown over. Time of report estimated from Doppler radar. Details of tree unknown, with peak wind speed is estimated. |
| August 1997 | Hail | Laird | - | Wind speed estimated to 60 mph at Laird. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laird | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laird | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laird | - | no account filed |
| March 2000 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Tornado (F1) | Laird | - | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Hail | Laird | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Laird | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6474047 | The 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 183040. 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.



