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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.

Otis within Washington County

Population over time

2 figures

Otis 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.

YearPeople Change
2010475
2020511+36 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 8 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

25 since 1993

Regional 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/undetermined8
Equipment and vehicle use6
Natural5
Recreation and ceremony2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Smoking1
Debris and open burning1
Fireworks1

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
9 September 2017Natural100 acresOtis Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
29 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresColorado State Forest Service-State Headquartersnot named
31 August 1993Debris and open burningunder an acreWashington Countynot named
14 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersOTIS
12 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersOTIS
6 July 2017Equipment and vehicle use1,000 acresOtis Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
6 July 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresColorado State Forest Service-State Headquartersnot named
6 July 1993Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWashington Countynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Washington 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 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Washington County

Storms near this place

60 of 95 shown

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1994Thunderstorm WindOtis$5,000Thunderstorm 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 2025HailOtis-Report from Mping.
July 2025HailOtis-Reported via social media. Time and location estimated.
July 2025HailOtis-Retired NWS employee measured 3.9cm diameter hail in Otis approximately 20 minutes after it fell.
July 2025HailOtis-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 2024HailOtis-Mping public report.
May 2024HailOtis-Mping public report.
August 2023Tornado (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 2020Thunderstorm WindOtis-Macroburst winds destroyed several outbuildings and downed numerous power poles.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindOtis-Intense winds uprooted another large tree.
August 2010Tornado (EF0)Otis-A tornado touched down briefly in an open field but did no damage.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindOtis-Thunderstorm winds downed tree branches 10 inches in diameter.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindOtis-Large hail and wind gusts to 70 mph (60 kts) caused extensive damage to corn and wheat crops in the vicinity.
June 2004Tornado (F0)Otis-A small tornado touched down but did no damage.
August 2002HailOtis-Large hail damaged several roofs and vehicles.
July 2001HailOtis-Large hail broke some windows.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindOtis-Damaging thunderstorm winds gusting to 77 mph (67 kts) blasted across northern Washington County. In Akron, the wind levelled a building under construction.
June 1998Tornado (F0)Otis-A small landspout briefly touched down.
July 2025HailOtis-no account filed
July 2025HailOtis-no account filed
May 2024HailOtis-no account filed
May 2024HailOtis-no account filed
June 2023HailOtis-no account filed
June 2023HailOtis-no account filed
June 2023HailOtis-no account filed
June 2023HailOtis-no account filed
August 2023HailOtis-no account filed
June 2023HailOtis-no account filed
June 2023HailOtis-no account filed
August 2019HailOtis-no account filed
August 2019HailOtis-no account filed
August 2017HailOtis-no account filed
August 2017HailOtis-no account filed
July 2017HailOtis-no account filed
July 2017HailOtis-no account filed
September 2014HailOtis-no account filed
September 2014HailOtis-no account filed
June 2014HailOtis-no account filed
June 2014HailOtis-no account filed
May 2014HailOtis-no account filed
May 2013HailOtis-no account filed
May 2013HailOtis-no account filed
May 2012HailOtis-no account filed
June 2011HailOtis-no account filed
July 2009HailOtis-no account filed
June 2008HailOtis-no account filed
April 2006HailOtis-no account filed
June 2006HailOtis-no account filed
June 2006HailOtis-no account filed
June 2006HailOtis-no account filed
June 2006HailOtis-no account filed
June 2006HailOtis-no account filed
June 2006HailOtis-no account filed
April 2005HailOtis-no account filed
April 2005HailOtis-no account filed
April 2005HailOtis-no account filed
May 2005HailOtis-no account filed
July 2005HailOtis-no account filed
August 2005HailOtis-no account filed
September 2005HailOtis-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washington 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
Calhoun3.9 miles8
Platner5.6 miles6
Hyde7.0 miles6
Akron13.3 miles7
Burdett15.0 miles6
Lone Star15.2 miles6
Elba19.4 miles8
De Nova (historical)20.0 miles8

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 OtisAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q522223The 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.