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Otis, Kansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Pioneer Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67565. The Survey maps it on the Otis quadrangle. 296 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,037 feet above sea level.

Otis within Rush County

On record in Otis

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Otis grew from 282 to 296 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
2010282
2020296+14 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 14 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

1 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Otis in 2017, burning under an acre 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/undetermined1

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
9 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRush County41544

Every fire recorded in Rush County

Storms near this place

60 of 62 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Otis in 62 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 37 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 3 heavy rain. 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
July 2005HailOtis$740,000Large hail and strong winds across Rush county caused 50 percent crop damage to 95,000 acres.
March 1998HailOtis$50,000Damage occurred to vehicles throughout the town.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindOtis$2,000Two power poles were blown down along highway K4.
July 1998LightningOtis$500Light caused a fire that destroyed 200 bales of hay.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindOtis$500Power pole snapped
September 2021Heavy RainOtis-Rainfall of 3.70 inches was observed.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindOtis-A roof was blown off a building.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindOtis-Large tree limbs were blown down. The high wind was most likely due to a heat burst event from a dissipating thunderstorm.
May 2013Tornado (EF0)Otis-A rope tornado did not cause any damage as it moved south.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindOtis-Winds were estimated to be 70 MPH.
May 2011Heavy RainOtis-Rainfall of 4.11 inches fell mainly during the evening hours.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindOtis-One inch diameter tree branches were blown down. Penny sized hail was also reported as the high wind was occurring.
July 2009HailOtis-Wind speeds of 60 mph were also observed.
June 2008Heavy RainOtis-Rainfall of 3.50 was reported at this location.
May 2008Tornado (EF0)Otis-This tornado made contact for only 30 seconds.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindOtis-Three inch diameter tree branches broken.
April 2005Tornado (F1)Otis-There was some roof damage to a farm. A gooseneck trailer was lifted up and it's five foot tongue was driven completely into the ground. There was also some tree damage.
July 2005Tornado (F0)Otis-This was brief touchdown reported by residents in the area and relayed by KSNW-TV in Wichita.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindOtis-Six power poles were blown down
May 2002Thunderstorm WindOtis-Eight to ten inch diameter tree limbs blown down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindOtis-Four to six inch diameter tree branches blown down.
September 1998LightningOtis-Numerous grass fires were started by lightning in the Otis area.
September 1998HailOtis-Windows broke out of a house and car. Siding and a roof were heavily damaged.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindOtis-Roof blown off of a well pump house.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindOtis-20 acres of milo destroyed by wind.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindOtis-Shed destroyed...camper overturned...windows broken...tree limbs blown down.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindOtis-Broken windows were reported along with power poles down, large tree limbs down and some unspecified exterior damage done to homes.
June 2024HailOtis-no account filed
August 2022HailOtis-no account filed
May 2021HailOtis-no account filed
June 2020HailOtis-no account filed
June 2020HailOtis-no account filed
June 2020HailOtis-no account filed
June 2020HailOtis-no account filed
June 2020HailOtis-no account filed
May 2018HailOtis-no account filed
May 2018HailOtis-no account filed
June 2017HailOtis-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindOtis-no account filed
June 2008HailOtis-no account filed
June 2008HailOtis-no account filed
May 2008HailOtis-no account filed
August 2007HailOtis-no account filed
May 2007HailOtis-no account filed
May 2007HailOtis-no account filed
October 2007HailOtis-no account filed
May 2007HailOtis-no account filed
April 2005HailOtis-no account filed
June 2004HailOtis-no account filed
June 2004HailOtis-no account filed
June 2004HailOtis-no account filed
June 2004HailOtis-no account filed
September 2003HailOtis-no account filed
May 2002HailOtis-no account filed
May 2002HailOtis-no account filed
May 2002HailOtis-no account filed
May 2002HailOtis-no account filed
April 2001HailOtis-no account filed
June 2000HailOtis-no account filed
May 1999HailOtis-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rush 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
Schaffer4.8 miles15
Bison7.7 miles14
Timken7.9 miles15
Loretta10.6 miles14
La Crosse13.5 miles15
Rush Center14.4 miles15
Liebenthal16.4 miles14
Hargrave20.8 miles14

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 OtisAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2443019The 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 475495. 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.

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.