Merino, Colorado
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Merino census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80741. The Survey maps it on the Merino quadrangle. 281 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,035 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMerino fell from 284 to 281 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 | 284 | |
| 2020 | 281 | -3 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 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.
- 1951 USGS Merino quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Sterling quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Sterling quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Merino quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Fort Morgan quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
46 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 46 fires within 5 miles of Merino between 2011 and 2020, burning about 167 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 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 | 35 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merino Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 9 August 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Merino Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 31 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merino Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 31 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merino Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 30 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merino Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 30 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merino Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 30 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | MERINO |
| 29 August 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Merino Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Merino: 1 occurrence, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Fire Clay (Refractory), Copper. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Hoosier | Copper | Unknown | ||
| Unknown | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
24 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Merino in 24 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 16 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merino | 1 hurt | Thunderstorm winds toppled and destroyed a ferris wheel at a carnival ride manufacture facility. In addition, one person received minor injuries when downed electrical lines fell across the vehicle he was sitting in and shocked him. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Merino | - | Report from Mping. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merino | - | Strong macroburst winds downed power lines. |
| May 2017 | Tornado (EF0) | Merino | - | A weak tornado touched down briefly in open country. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merino | - | Strong thunderstorm winds blew a tree down. |
| August 2002 | Tornado (F0) | Merino | - | A small tornado touched down but did no damage. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merino | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merino | - | no account filed |
| September 1999 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Merino | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Funnel Cloud | Merino | - | 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 Merino | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2303147 | 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 204720. 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.




