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.
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 figuresOtis 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 282 | |
| 2020 | 296 | +14 (+5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 14 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.
- 1896 USGS Hays quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1955 USGS Great Bend quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Great Bend quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Great Bend quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Otis quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Hays quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1 since 2017Regional 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/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 July 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Rush County | 41544 |
Storms near this place
60 of 62 shownRegional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2005 | Hail | Otis | $740,000 | Large hail and strong winds across Rush county caused 50 percent crop damage to 95,000 acres. |
| March 1998 | Hail | Otis | $50,000 | Damage occurred to vehicles throughout the town. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | $2,000 | Two power poles were blown down along highway K4. |
| July 1998 | Lightning | Otis | $500 | Light caused a fire that destroyed 200 bales of hay. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | $500 | Power pole snapped |
| September 2021 | Heavy Rain | Otis | - | Rainfall of 3.70 inches was observed. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | A roof was blown off a building. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Large tree limbs were blown down. The high wind was most likely due to a heat burst event from a dissipating thunderstorm. |
| May 2013 | Tornado (EF0) | Otis | - | A rope tornado did not cause any damage as it moved south. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Winds were estimated to be 70 MPH. |
| May 2011 | Heavy Rain | Otis | - | Rainfall of 4.11 inches fell mainly during the evening hours. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | One inch diameter tree branches were blown down. Penny sized hail was also reported as the high wind was occurring. |
| July 2009 | Hail | Otis | - | Wind speeds of 60 mph were also observed. |
| June 2008 | Heavy Rain | Otis | - | Rainfall of 3.50 was reported at this location. |
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Otis | - | This tornado made contact for only 30 seconds. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Three inch diameter tree branches broken. |
| April 2005 | Tornado (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 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Otis | - | This was brief touchdown reported by residents in the area and relayed by KSNW-TV in Wichita. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Six power poles were blown down |
| May 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Eight to ten inch diameter tree limbs blown down. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Four to six inch diameter tree branches blown down. |
| September 1998 | Lightning | Otis | - | Numerous grass fires were started by lightning in the Otis area. |
| September 1998 | Hail | Otis | - | Windows broke out of a house and car. Siding and a roof were heavily damaged. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Roof blown off of a well pump house. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | 20 acres of milo destroyed by wind. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Shed destroyed...camper overturned...windows broken...tree limbs blown down. |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | Broken windows were reported along with power poles down, large tree limbs down and some unspecified exterior damage done to homes. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2022 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2021 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| October 2007 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| September 2003 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Otis | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Otis | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schaffer | 4.8 miles | 15 | |
| Bison | 7.7 miles | 14 | |
| Timken | 7.9 miles | 15 | |
| Loretta | 10.6 miles | 14 | |
| La Crosse | 13.5 miles | 15 | |
| Rush Center | 14.4 miles | 15 | |
| Liebenthal | 16.4 miles | 14 | |
| Hargrave | 20.8 miles | 14 |
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 Otis | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2443019 | 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 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.





