Watts, Kentucky
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the Hardshell census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41348. It stands on Leatherwood Creek. The Survey maps it on the Haddix quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1891 USGS Hazard quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1913 USGS Buckhorn quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Haddix quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Haddix quadrangle1:24000
- 1972 USGS Haddix quadrangle1:24000
- 1977 USGS Hazard quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
282 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 282 fires within 5 miles of Watts between 1997 and 2020, burning about 23,200 acres in total. None started naturally. 73 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 123 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 73 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 12 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1998 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 7.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 18 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 15 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 September 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 300 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 14 August 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 30 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | WHICK |
| 30 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | 48 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BIG BRANCH |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
10 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watts in 10 storm reports between 2001 and 2024: 8 thunderstorm wind, 2 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 2004 | Flash Flood | Watts | $20,000 | Homes were surrounded by water on Highway 1278. Two cars were washed away. |
| October 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | $10,000 | Severe thunderstorm winds blew off the roof from a home. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | $5,000 | Trees were blown down on Todd Hollow Road. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | $5,000 | Two trees and several large branches on Highway 1278. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | $3,000 | Roofs blown off three structures. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | $1,000 | A tree was blown down along Hwy 15 in Watts. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | - | A tree was downed along KY-15 near the Watts community. The exact location of the downed tree was not given. |
| June 2011 | Flash Flood | Watts | - | Flash flooding was occurring along Watts Rd in Watts. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watts | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayhole | 1.8 miles | 13 | |
| Little | 2.6 miles | 13 | |
| Lost Creek | 2.6 miles | 13 | |
| Flintville | 2.9 miles | 13 | |
| Copland | 3.0 miles | 13 | |
| Ned | 3.4 miles | 13 | |
| Hardshell | 3.4 miles | 13 | |
| Haddix | 3.5 miles | 13 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 509325. 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.







