Wray, Colorado
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Wray census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80758. It stands on Holy Joe Creek. The Survey maps it on the Wray quadrangle. 2,358 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,566 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Wray
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Beecher Island Battlegroundlisted 1976
Cliff Theaterlisted 2013
Population over time
2 figuresWray grew from 2,342 to 2,358 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 | 2,342 | |
| 2020 | 2,358 | +16 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 9 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
- 1961 USGS Wray quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1981 USGS Wray quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
20 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Wray between 2010 and 2017, burning about 201 acres in total. 1 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 | 14 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 20 July 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2.0 acres | Yuma Volunteer Fire Department (Yuma Rural Fire Protection District) | UNKNOWN |
| 30 June 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 96 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | WRAY |
| 28 June 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 27 June 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wray Volunteer Fire Department (Yuma County Fire Protection District) | UNKNOWN |
| 19 June 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Yuma Volunteer Fire Department (Yuma Rural Fire Protection District) | UNKNOWN |
| 17 June 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wray Volunteer Fire Department (Yuma County Fire Protection District) | UNKNOWN |
| 5 May 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Wray Volunteer Fire Department (Yuma County Fire Protection District) | UNKNOWN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 15 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Wray: 8 past producers, 7 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Fire Clay (Refractory), Volcanic Materials. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| Unknown | Volcanic Materials | Occurrence | ||
| Unknown | Pumice | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Clay | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| Unknown | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Sand | |
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel |
Storms near this place
60 of 206 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wray in 206 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 154 hail, 37 thunderstorm wind, 7 tornado, 6 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | Hail | Wray | $50,000 | Baseball size hail broke windows and windshields. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $20,000 | Picked up northwest corner of house roof and dropped it again, breaking four roof trusses. Healthy 12 inch diameter honey locus tree 25 feet tall nearby was uprooted. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Wray | $6,000 | Car damage reported to be $6,000. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $5,500 | As the line of storms moved over the location, 1 inch in diameter tree limbs were snapped off trees and a few shingles blown off the roof of a home. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $2,000 | Pictures of an un-anchored hay shed flipped and thrown about 100 yards due to wind. Estimated size of the barn is 12X20 feet. Speed is estimated based on nearby measured gusts and the building that was thrown. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $1,000 | A large cottonwood tree was toppled. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $1,000 | Trained spotter reported a 6-inch live tree branch broken off and several power poles leaning over as a result of the wind gust. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $1,000 | Two power poles blown down in town of Wray. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $300 | Large tree limbs, estimated 4 to 6 inches in diameter, reported down as the line of storms move over the location. |
| April 2009 | Hail | Wray | $250 | A trained spotter reported golf ball sized hail broke a window. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | $10 | Tree branches reported down due to thunderstorm wind gusts in Wray, CO. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Wray | - | A social media report of quarter size hail in Wray. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Wray | - | Quarter size hail was in reported in Wray by the public. This was with a second round of storms that moved through the area. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Wray | - | Quarter sized hail reported on the east side of Wray. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Wray | - | Numerous reports of hail around half dollar size in Wray throughout a 12 minute span. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | KCOWRAY on WeatherUnderground reported the gust. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | A Spotter Network report of 60 mph wind gust via a handheld anemometer. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | The mesonet site KCOWray25 reported the wind gust. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Wray | - | Multiple reports of hail in the city of Wray over a duration of eight minutes. Hail ranged in size from penny to quarter. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Wray | - | Pea to quarter sized hail fell over the location. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Wray | - | The public reported nickel sized hail in Wray. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Wray | - | Multiple public reports from Wray of hail from 1-1.75 inches across a 25 minute period. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | Report of estimated 70 mph wind gusts on Hwy 385 approx. 3.5 to 1.5 miles south of Hwy 34 in Wray. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Wray | - | Wray law enforcement reported baseball sized hail. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Wray | - | Hail up to two inches in diameter fell over the location. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Wray | - | Report of nickel sized hail 3 miles west of Wray, CO. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Wray | - | Most of the hail was smaller, with a mixture of half to three quarter inch hailstones. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Wray | - | Received a photo of hail slightly smaller than a tennis ball. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | Mesonet station FIXFARM reported a 61 mph gust as the line of storm move over the location. |
| May 2020 | Hail | Wray | - | Public relayed a report via Facebook of dime to nickel size hail falling at their location. They also reported a 24-hour rain total of 0.98. |
| August 2020 | Hail | Wray | - | Trained spotter reported ongoing nickel sized hail. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | A trained spotter observed an estimated 60 mph wind gust as the line of thunderstorms moved over the location. |
| May 2019 | Hail | Wray | - | Also reported broken tree branches, but no diameter was given. |
| July 2019 | Hail | Wray | - | The public reported via Facebook comment golf ball hail three miles west of Wray. The report also included a picture of several large hail stones. |
| July 2019 | Hail | Wray | - | This was near Stalker lake. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Wray | - | Dime size hail was reported. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Wray | - | The hail ranged from penny to nickel size. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Wray | - | Wind gusts of 60 MPH also occurred with the hail. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | Quarter size hail occurred with the winds. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Wray | - | Pea to nickel size hail was reported in Wray. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Wray | - | Dime size hail reported in Wray. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Wray | - | Golf ball to hen egg size hail fell in town. |
| May 2016 | Tornado (EF0) | Wray | - | The weak tornado moved due north, crossing CR 32 less than a half mile west of the CR 32 and Highway 385 intersection. The tornado moved through electrical lines, but no power flashes or damage to the lines were evident in video of the tornado from a storm chaser. The tornado remained in open fields during its lifetime. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Wray | - | Hail was mostly dime to quarter size with a few larger stones the size of golf balls. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | Trees and power lines blown down in Wray. |
| May 2013 | Hail | Wray | - | The observer reported hail size ranging from .75 to one inch diameter hail. |
| May 2013 | Hail | Wray | - | The hail sizes ranged from nickel to quarter size in town. |
| May 2011 | Flash Flood | Wray | - | Republican River reported out of its banks at the Wray shopping center along Highway 34 in town. No stores were immediately being threatened by high water. River reported to be receding at 2034 MDT with rain ending. Rainfall of 1.57 inches reported at one point in the evening. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | NWS employee estimated peak winds to be near 60 mph. |
| August 2010 | Hail | Wray | - | Heavy rain also occurred with water ponding at the intersection of Hwy 385 and Hwy 34. |
| June 2009 | Hail | Wray | - | Most hailstones were 1.0 to 1.5 inches in diameter, but largest was 2.5 inches. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Wray | - | Observer reported 2.5 inches total rainfall with 2.00 inches falling in about 15 minutes. Observer reported severe flooding locally. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Wray | - | The second supercell of the afternoon produced torrential rainfall from Wray northward on highway 385. Water was reported running across roads. |
| June 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Wray | - | Employee reported a brief event...no known damage. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wray | - | A local irrigation company in Wray measured a wind gust of 55 kts (63 mph). |
| May 2007 | Hail | Wray | - | Hail covered the ground. |
| April 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Wray | - | Over open fields...no known damage. |
| May 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Wray | - | Tornado estimated near Rd JJ, Rd 34 (not Hwy 34). Tornado reported to be brief. Over open fields...no known damage. |
| April 2007 | Hail | Wray | - | Dime-sized hail covered the ground. |
| April 2007 | Flash Flood | Wray | - | Spotter reported flash flooding from slow-moving thunderstorms. |
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 Wray | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1013925 | 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 183032. 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.



