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.
Population over time
2 figuresWatkins 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 653 | |
| 2020 | 682 | +29 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 19 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.
- 1890 USGS East Denver quadrangle1:125000
- 1953 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1954 USGS Watkins quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1957 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Denver East quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
51 since 2010Regional 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/undetermined | 43 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bennett Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
| 27 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bennett Fire Protection District | N/A |
| 22 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 18 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bennett Fire Protection District | N/A |
| 14 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | BENNETT |
| 10 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bennett Fire Protection District | N/A |
| 8 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | WATKINS |
| 6 August 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bennett Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel |
Storms near this place
24 since 1997Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2001 | Hail | Watkins | 5 hurt, $49,000,000 | Large 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 2011 | Hail | Watkins | 2 hurt, $164,800,000 | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Lightning | Watkins | $75,000 | Lightning sparked a fire causing extensive damage to a home. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watkins | $70,000 | A 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 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Watkins | - | A tornado touched down briefly. No damage was observed. |
| May 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Watkins | - | A tornado touched down briefly but did no damage. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watkins | - | Strong winds caused a truck to rollover along Interstate 70, just east of Watkins. No injuries were reported. |
| August 2001 | Flash Flood | Watkins | - | Severe thunderstorms producing heavy rain and hail either washed out or damaged several county roads in the Watkins and Bennett areas. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Watkins | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Watkins | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manila | 4.6 miles | 14 | |
| Bennett | 9.6 miles | 17 | |
| Friendly Village | 9.6 miles | 26 | |
| Norfolk Glen | 10.2 miles | 26 | |
| Hillcrest | 11.0 miles | 26 | |
| Hillcrest Village | 11.3 miles | 26 | |
| Sable | 11.9 miles | 25 | |
| Aurora | 11.9 miles | 26 |
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 Watkins | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1987299 | 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 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.






