Ottosen, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Wacousta Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50570. The Survey maps it on the West Bend quadrangle. 40 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,158 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresOttosen fell from 55 to 40 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 | 55 | |
| 2020 | 40 | -15 (-27%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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 Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS West Bend quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Humboldt quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Ottosen between 2006 and 2010, burning about 31 acres in total. None 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 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 April 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 November 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 1718 120TH ST., IOWA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Ottosen: 2 past producers, 1 unknown. 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.
Storms near this place
8 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ottosen in 8 storm reports between 1998 and 2019: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 2 flash flood, 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2019 | Flood | Ottosen | $200,000 | Multiple secondary roads were closed across the county from snowmelt and heavy rain during the period. In addition an ice jam around Humboldt and Dakota City were causing flooding during the period. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottosen | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Flash Flood | Ottosen | $50,000 | Numerous roads were closed throughout Humboldt County due to standing or flowing water. The worst impacts were over the northwest part of the county. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottosen | $25,000 | Power lines and trees blown down. Winds estimated 80 MPH. Pea size hail was also reported. |
| July 2019 | Flash Flood | Ottosen | $10,000 | Emergency manager reported some road closures in portions of the county. Some kayakers required rescue as flood waters rose on an area river. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottosen | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Tornado (EF0) | Ottosen | - | This well-defined tornado was photographed from multiple angles. Track estimated based on photos and radar. Crop damage reported along the track. |
| June 2010 | Flood | Ottosen | - | 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.
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 Ottosen | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1926231 | 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 465602. 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.




