BlockBefore

Towaoc, Colorado

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Ute Mountain census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81334. The Survey maps it on the Towaoc quadrangle. 1,120 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,912 feet above sea level.

Towaoc within Montezuma County

Population over time

2 figures

Towaoc grew from 1,087 to 1,120 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
20101,087
20201,120+33 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 9 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

773 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 773 fires within 5 miles of Towaoc between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,564 acres in total. 281 started naturally. 45 were 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
Natural281
Fireworks126
Debris and open burning108
Missing data/not specified/undetermined98
Smoking61
Arson/incendiarism45
Misuse of fire by a minor25
Equipment and vehicle use18
Recreation and ceremony6
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Other causes1

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
8 September 2019Naturalunder an acreUte Mountain Ute Agency871
8 September 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreUte Mountain Ute AgencyNBEARDNC#3
8 September 1997Debris and open burning1.0 acresUte Mountain Ute AgencyCROSSCYN
5 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreUte Mountain Ute AgencyLITTEL BEAR
5 September 2009Naturalunder an acreUte Mountain Ute AgencyFIRST LAKE 2
5 September 2009Naturalunder an acreUte Mountain Ute AgencyGOAT
4 September 2009Naturalunder an acreUte Mountain Ute AgencyFIRST LAKE
30 September 2011Naturalunder an acreUte Mountain Ute AgencyLITTLE BEAR

Every fire recorded in Montezuma County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Towaoc: 1 producer, 1 occurrence. 1 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
Towaoc PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceGravel

Every working recorded in Montezuma County

Storms near this place

10 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Towaoc in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 3 heavy rain, 2 lightning, 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
September 2005Heavy RainTowaoc$30,000no account filed
September 2005HailTowaoc$2,000no account filed
September 2024Debris FlowTowaoc-Heavy Rainfall just east, northeast of Towaoc resulted in debris flows across Highline ditch/canal. Debris flow with mud and large boulders were noted near mile marker 29 on Highway 491 (between 21 Rd and B Rd).
August 2012Flash FloodTowaoc-Runoff from heavy rainfall closed the intersection of highways 491 and 160 due to fast flowing water in excess of 6 inches deep flowing over the roadway.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindTowaoc-Outflow winds from a thunderstorm resulted in violent shaking of a mobile home. No damage was reported.
July 2011Tornado (EF0)Towaoc-A tornado was observed by several people as it moved over open country. The tornado was located just over a mile west of Highway 160. Some cottonwood trees had limbs broken off.
July 2008Heavy RainTowaoc-Heavy rainfall resulted in minor flooding in the Towaoc area.
July 1998Heavy RainTowaoc-no account filed
July 1998LightningTowaoc-no account filed
August 1997LightningTowaoc-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Montezuma 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
Mariano7.8 miles10
Badger House Community (historical)10.4 miles12
Echo House (historical)12.4 miles12
Cortez12.5 miles11
Swallows Nest (historical)14.2 miles25
Arriola17.0 miles12
Lebanon18.9 miles10
Lewis20.6 miles12

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 TowaocAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2573316The 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 179166. 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.