Otis, Colorado
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Otis census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80743. The Survey maps it on the Otis quadrangle. 511 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,360 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresOtis grew from 475 to 511 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 | 475 | |
| 2020 | 511 | +36 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 8 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
- 1972 USGS Otis quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1981 USGS Wray quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
25 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Otis between 1993 and 2020, burning about 2,380 acres in total. 5 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 | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2017 | Natural | 100 acres | Otis Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 29 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 31 August 1993 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Washington County | not named |
| 14 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | OTIS |
| 12 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | OTIS |
| 6 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 acres | Otis Fire Department | UNKNOWN |
| 6 July 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 6 July 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Washington County | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Otis: 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.
Storms near this place
60 of 95 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Otis in 95 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 73 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 7 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds, estimated at 60 mph (52 knots) by spotters, destroyed a hog shed and killed a hog northwest of Otis (12 miles east of Akron). The winds also blew a tin roof off a barn. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Otis | - | Report from Mping. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Otis | - | Reported via social media. Time and location estimated. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Otis | - | Retired NWS employee measured 3.9cm diameter hail in Otis approximately 20 minutes after it fell. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Otis | - | Video evidence of a few tennis ball or baseball sized hailstones which significantly damaged the rear windshield of a vehicle. Most stones were quarter to golf ball sized. Time and location estimated. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Otis | - | Mping public report. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Otis | - | Mping public report. |
| August 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | Otis | - | A tornado touched down in an open field just southeast of Otis and continued to move east-southeast throughout eastern Washington County. As it approached County Road ZZ it lifted a garage off its foundation anchoring, and shifted it. The garage door also imploded and about 10% of roof structure was lost. Other damage included snapped trees and broken wood power poles, with lesser damage to outbuildings. The tornado continued to track east-southeast into Yuma County. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Macroburst winds destroyed several outbuildings and downed numerous power poles. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Intense winds uprooted another large tree. |
| August 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Otis | - | A tornado touched down briefly in an open field but did no damage. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Thunderstorm winds downed tree branches 10 inches in diameter. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Large hail and wind gusts to 70 mph (60 kts) caused extensive damage to corn and wheat crops in the vicinity. |
| June 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Otis | - | A small tornado touched down but did no damage. |
| August 2002 | Hail | Otis | - | Large hail damaged several roofs and vehicles. |
| July 2001 | Hail | Otis | - | Large hail broke some windows. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Damaging thunderstorm winds gusting to 77 mph (67 kts) blasted across northern Washington County. In Akron, the wind levelled a building under construction. |
| June 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Otis | - | A small landspout briefly touched down. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| September 2014 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| September 2014 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | 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 Otis | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q522223 | 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 182989. 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.



