Blanding, Utah
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Blanding census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84511. It lies near Pinenut Knoll. The Survey maps it on the Blanding South quadrangle. 3,394 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,106 feet above sea level.
On record in Blanding
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 4 records
Edge of Cedars Indian Ruinlisted 1971
Oljato Trading Postlisted 1980
Owachomo Bridge Traillisted 1989
Swallow's Nestlisted 1996
Population over time
2 figuresBlanding grew from 3,375 to 3,394 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 | 3,375 | |
| 2020 | 3,394 | +19 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 21 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.
- 1886 USGS Abajo quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Abajo quadrangle1:250000
- 1893 USGS Abajo quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Blanding quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Verdure 3 SW quadrangle1:24000
- 1962 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Blanding quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Blanding South quadrangle1:24000
What the histories say of this town
847 words1 chapter about Blanding from the published histories of the county, public domain and reproduced complete.
| Chapter | From | Length |
|---|---|---|
| San Juan County, Utah | San Juan County, Utah (1910) | 847 words |
Fires near this place
202 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 202 fires within 5 miles of Blanding between 1992 and 2020, burning about 251 acres in total. 149 started naturally. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 149 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 21 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 2000 | Natural | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | LAWS RANCH |
| 8 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Moab Field Office | BIGCNY2 |
| 6 September 2015 | Natural | under an acre | Moab Field Office | RECAPTURE CREEK |
| 30 September 2005 | Natural | under an acre | Moab Field Office | POWDERHOUS |
| 29 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | Moab Field Office | OVERCAST |
| 26 September 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1.1 acres | Southeast Area | BLUE MOUNTAIN ROAD |
| 20 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Moab Field Office | KIRBY |
| 2 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | SHIRTTAIL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Blanding: 4 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Limestone, Sandstone | |
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Surface | |
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit # 19026 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Limestone, Sandstone | |
| Utah Dept of Highways Pit No 19026 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Blanding in 17 storm reports between 1998 and 2020: 5 wildfire, 5 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanding | $175,000 | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Blanding | $30,000 | Heavy rainfall resulted in a flash flood within Arch Canyon with fast moving water at least four feet deep. An SUV that was parked along the Arch Canyon Trail road was carried down the canyon about 2.2 miles. The people who owned the SUV were camped on higher ground and had to hike out of the canyon for assistance after the flood waters subsided. |
| September 2013 | Hail | Blanding | $20,000 | Large hail damaged a number of vehicles and broke windows. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Blanding | - | A severe thunderstorm produced large hail estimated to be the size of half dollars west-northwest of Blanding. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Blanding | - | A severe thunderstorm produced large hail measured to be the size of golf balls in Blanding. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanding | - | The Blanding Cooperative Observer estimated a peak wind gust of 75 mph. |
| October 2015 | Hail | Blanding | - | Quarter-sized hail pounded an area near Blanding for about five minutes. |
| September 2013 | Hail | Blanding | - | Quarter size hail fell along Highway 191 about seven miles north of Blanding as reported by the sheriff's office. |
| July 2007 | Heavy Rain | Blanding | - | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain in the Cedar Point area in extreme east central San Juan County. 0.57 inches of rain was measured from the event, with most of the rainfall occurring in a 30 minute period. |
| September 2005 | Flash Flood | Blanding | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Wildfire | Blanding | - | no account filed |
| September 2003 | Heavy Rain | Blanding | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Wildfire | Blanding | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Wildfire | Blanding | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Wildfire | Blanding | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Wildfire | Blanding | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Flash Flood | Blanding | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Village | 9.0 miles | 27 | |
| White Mesa | 10.9 miles | 20 | |
| Verdure | 13.1 miles | 20 | |
| Monticello | 18.5 miles | 20 | |
| Eastland | 22.0 miles | 21 | |
| Bluff | 23.8 miles | 22 | |
| Montezuma Creek | 25.8 miles | 20 | |
| Ucolo | 27.3 miles | 21 |
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 Blanding | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q284727 | 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 1438903. 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.











