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Watkins, Colorado

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the North Aurora census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80137. The Survey maps it on the Watkins quadrangle. 682 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,525 feet above sea level.

Watkins within Adams County

Population over time

2 figures

Watkins grew from 653 to 682 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
2010653
2020682+29 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 19 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

51 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 51 fires within 5 miles of Watkins between 2010 and 2020, burning about 611 acres in total. 3 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/undetermined43
Natural3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Fireworks1
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1

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 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBennett Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
27 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBennett Fire Protection DistrictN/A
22 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State Headquartersnot named
18 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBennett Fire Protection DistrictN/A
14 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersBENNETT
10 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBennett Fire Protection DistrictN/A
8 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersWATKINS
6 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBennett Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Adams 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 Watkins: 1 occurrence, 1 producer. 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
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceGravel

Every working recorded in Adams County

Storms near this place

24 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watkins in 24 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 15 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 lightning. The reports record 7 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
June 2001HailWatkins5 hurt, $49,000,000Large hail, damaging winds and very heavy rain pummeled a mobile home park in Watkins. In the park, 52 mobile homes, 14 recreational vehicles, 3 homes and a commercial building were damaged. Siding was riddled with holes and windows were broken. Vehicles sustained extensive body damage and the car windows were shattered. A handful of people were treated for minor cuts and bruises. Strong winds also flipped a tractor trailer along Interstate 70 near Watkins. At least 30 private planes at Front Range Airport were totalled. The radome protecting the National Weather Service doppler radar, which was tracking the storm, also sustained damage. The storm caused power outages which affected about 1,200 residents. Excluding the damage done at Denver International Airport, damage estimates totalled $49 million, making it the costliest storm in the last 3 years, and 10th costliest since 1984.
July 2011HailWatkins2 hurt, $164,800,000no account filed
July 1997LightningWatkins$75,000Lightning sparked a fire causing extensive damage to a home.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindWatkins$70,000A strong microburst wind to 92 mph (80 kts) flipped one small plane on its back and blew at DC-3 loose from its moorings and into a grassy field at Front Range Airport.
May 2014Tornado (EF0)Watkins-A tornado touched down briefly. No damage was observed.
May 2003Tornado (F0)Watkins-A tornado touched down briefly but did no damage.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindWatkins-Strong winds caused a truck to rollover along Interstate 70, just east of Watkins. No injuries were reported.
August 2001Flash FloodWatkins-Severe thunderstorms producing heavy rain and hail either washed out or damaged several county roads in the Watkins and Bennett areas.
June 2024HailWatkins-no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindWatkins-no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindWatkins-no account filed
June 2023HailWatkins-no account filed
July 2020HailWatkins-no account filed
May 2019HailWatkins-no account filed
June 2006HailWatkins-no account filed
July 2005HailWatkins-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindWatkins-no account filed
May 2001HailWatkins-no account filed
August 2001HailWatkins-no account filed
July 2000HailWatkins-no account filed
May 1999HailWatkins-no account filed
May 1998HailWatkins-no account filed
May 1997HailWatkins-no account filed
May 1997HailWatkins-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Adams 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
Manila4.6 miles14
Bennett9.6 miles17
Friendly Village9.6 miles26
Norfolk Glen10.2 miles26
Hillcrest11.0 miles26
Hillcrest Village11.3 miles26
Sable11.9 miles25
Aurora11.9 miles26

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 WatkinsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1987299The 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 184998. 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.