BlockBefore

Olathe, Colorado

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Olathe census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81425. The Survey maps it on the Olathe quadrangle. 2,019 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,361 feet above sea level.

Olathe within Montrose County

Population over time

2 figures

Olathe grew from 1,849 to 2,019 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
20101,849
20202,019+170 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 16 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

59 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 59 fires within 5 miles of Olathe between 1993 and 2020, burning about 218 acres in total. 5 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/undetermined30
Debris and open burning7
Recreation and ceremony6
Smoking6
Natural5
Equipment and vehicle use3
Other causes1
Arson/incendiarism1

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 August 2015Naturalunder an acreDinosaur National MonumentMTC DFPC HELO SUPPORT
5 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOlathe Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
3 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOlathe Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
2 August 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreOlathe Fire Protection DistrictN/A
30 July 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreOlathe Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
19 July 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMontrose Fire Protection Districtnot named
18 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersMONTROSE
18 July 2006Naturalunder an acreGrand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National ForestsFALL CREEK 2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Montrose County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 20 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of Olathe: 15 unknowns, 5 occurrences. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Montrose County

Storms near this place

13 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Olathe in 13 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 4 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning. The reports record 2 injuries. 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
May 2005Tornado (F1)Olathe1 hurt, $20,000A small tornado traveled across adjacent farms along Highway 50 in Montrose County, leaving a narrow damage path 50 to 75 yards wide. A three-sided wood-framed tin-roofed barn, approximately 35' x 12' was lifted up, flipped and carried 20 feet to the W-NW landing on its roof and crushing a large chicken coop. A small chicken coop on the south side of the barn was blown approximately 50-70 feet to the N-NW and its roof was not found. Small limbs were broken on trees, a number of shingles were torn from roofs and impaled on objects, and a trampoline and sheets of tin were lifted and blown up to 75 yards into a field. One of the residents was hit in the leg by a flying chair, and a horse was injured in the leg by flying debris. Residents at one of the farms said they heard a loud "wind" noise and saw a great deal of debris swirling around and a lot of dust obscuring their vision. Reports indicate a number of funnel cloud sightings in the area around the time of the storm damage.
June 1999LightningOlathe1 hurtno account filed
June 2021Flash FloodOlathe$300,000Several homes were flooded with water, mud and debris in the Coal Creek area with 2 feet of water estimated over Kiowa Road between 4 and 6 PM MDT on the 24th. One home saw water levels up to 4 feet with significant damage to the residence and property. Several roads had minor damage from mud and cutting of the dirt in areas. Small rocks and boulders were displaced on steep drainages. Rainfall estimates from local residents varied, but averaged near 1.75 inches in less than 2 hours. No homes were declared a total loss and there were no injuries of note or fatalities. The flash flood was, in addition to the heavy rain, the result of overwhelmed canals and culverts.
May 2023FloodOlathe$5,000Accelerated snowmelt led to high rises in Roubideau Creek which subsequently led to the washout of portions of Roubideau Canyon Road which runs along the creek.
September 2002Thunderstorm WindOlathe$2,000no account filed
May 2020HailOlathe-A severe thunderstorm produced large hail estimated to be the size of quarters in Olathe.
August 2016Heavy RainOlathe-About 14 miles southwest of Olathe 0.65 inches of rain fell within about 55 minutes.
June 2015Flash FloodOlathe-A normally dry wash quickly filled and ran at bankfull conditions due to runoff from heavy rainfall.
June 2015Flash FloodOlathe-Normally dry washes in the area were running out of their banks which caused minor flooding.
August 2010Flash FloodOlathe-Heavy rainfall resulted in the Gunnison River stage rapidly rising about 4 feet through the BLM's Gunnison Gorge Wilderness Area. Numerous camp sites and trail heads were destroyed or covered in debris and boulders to the point that they were no longer usable. The movement of boulders and silt significantly changed the characteristic of the Gunnison River in a number of places, such as the Miracle Mile rapids where rapids no longer exist. Six river runners were trapped at the T-Dyke boater site during the event. Numerous small fish were killed by the flash flood.
May 2005HailOlathe-no account filed
May 2005Funnel CloudOlathe-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindOlathe-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Montrose 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
Frost2.7 miles16
Hoovers Corner4.1 miles14
Roe5.0 miles16
Pea Green Corner6.7 miles16
Montrose10.4 miles17
Oak Grove10.4 miles17
Fairview12.4 miles17
Lujane15.5 miles20

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 OlatheAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2306759The 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 204746. 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.