BlockBefore

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.

Ottosen within Humboldt County

Population over time

2 figures

Ottosen 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.

YearPeople Change
201055
202040-15 (-27%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

3 since 2006

Regional 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/undetermined3

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 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined25 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 November 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources1718 120TH ST., IOWA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Humboldt County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
BennettSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
JergensSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Humboldt County

Storms near this place

8 since 1998

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2019FloodOttosen$200,000Multiple 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 1998Thunderstorm WindOttosen$100,000no account filed
June 2014Flash FloodOttosen$50,000Numerous roads were closed throughout Humboldt County due to standing or flowing water. The worst impacts were over the northwest part of the county.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindOttosen$25,000Power lines and trees blown down. Winds estimated 80 MPH. Pea size hail was also reported.
July 2019Flash FloodOttosen$10,000Emergency manager reported some road closures in portions of the county. Some kayakers required rescue as flood waters rose on an area river.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindOttosen$5,000no account filed
July 2016Tornado (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 2010FloodOttosen-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Humboldt 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
Bode5.1 miles8
Bradgate6.7 miles8
Rutland10.3 miles8
Livermore10.5 miles8
Arnold11.2 miles8
Gilmore City12.0 miles9
Unique12.4 miles8
Humboldt14.9 miles11

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 OttosenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1926231The 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.