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Big Lake, Minnesota

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Big Lake City. It lies in ZIP code area 55309. The Survey maps it on the Big Lake quadrangle. 11,686 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 938 feet above sea level.

Big Lake within Sherburne County

Population over time

2 figures

Big Lake grew from 10,060 to 11,686 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
201010,060
202011,686+1,626 (+16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 13 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

171 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 171 fires within 5 miles of Big Lake between 1992 and 2019, burning about 252 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 21 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 burning65
Railroad operations and maintenance25
Arson/incendiarism21
Missing data/not specified/undetermined20
Equipment and vehicle use20
Recreation and ceremony8
Smoking5
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Other causes1
Natural1

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
24 September 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 August 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 August 1992Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 August 2008Equipment and vehicle use13 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 July 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 July 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 July 2003Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 July 2006Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sherburne County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Big Lake: 1 producer. All of them 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Big Lake Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Sherburne County

Storms near this place

52 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Lake in 52 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 33 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. 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 1997Thunderstorm WindBig Lake1 hurtFive airplanes overturned at local airport. Roof blown off lumberyard, injurying a motorist. Fire hall doors blown off. Hundreds of trees blown down. Roofs ripped off numerous structures including middle school, apartment building and hardware store. Traffic lights down. Restaurant destroyed. Police car blown off the road. Estimated windspeed.
September 2005HailBig Lake$25,000,000Roof damage reported to hundreds of homes, and golf ball size hail punched through some home siding. Numerous vehicles damaged. A newspaper reported that two insurance companies totaled over 1500 claims in this area. Property damage total is for all of Sherburne County on 9-21-05.
July 2011HailBig Lake$50,000Several reports of very large hail occurred from Big Lake, to approximately 5 miles north of Big Lake, Minnesota.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindBig Lake$25,000A 20 foot trailer was picked up and blown into a pickup truck and spread across a yard. There was damage to a shed and siding from the debris.
September 2016HailBig Lake$2,000Hail occurred in the Aspen Hills area of Big Lake Township. Damage occurred to a vehicle in this location.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-A large tree blew down in Big Lake.
August 2018HailBig Lake-A picture of half dollar size hail was posted on social media.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-There were numerous large branches blown down in Big Lake, some as large as 10 inches in diameter.
June 2015HailBig Lake-There were several reports of penny to nickel size hail northwest of Big Lake, and through the north and northeast part of town. The largest hail stone was quarter size, northeast of Big Lake.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-A large tree blew down onto a power line on Riverview Drive in Monticello.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Several spotters across southern Sherburne County reported severe winds with numerous areas of downed power lines and large trees from near Becker, to Big Lake, Minnesota and northward. A trained spotter measured a wind gust of 70 mph near Big Lake at 1715 CST.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-A trained spotter reported six inch diameter trees blown down.
May 2008Funnel CloudBig Lake-Visible funnel formed halfway down toward the ground. Blowing dust near the funnel appears to be unidirectional and did not show rotation. This could have been caused by a rear flank downdraft wind.
May 2008HailBig Lake-At the intersection of County Roads 79 and 15.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Eight inch tree downed 4.6 miles north of Highway 10 on County Road 5.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Trees up to 18 inches in diameter were downed.
June 2005HailBig Lake-Dime sized hail dented cars.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-A large tree was downed over a road on the west side of Eagle Lake.
September 2005Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Many garage doors buckled in the strong wind. Numerous trees down.
May 2004Tornado (F0)Big Lake-A tornado touched down near Preusse Lake just east of Big Lake Industrial Park. It sucked up water as it crossed the lake then after hitting land it downed trees near a home on 172nd Street. The twister crossed over 172nd Street then went into the Bruggeman residential development before dissipating. A home on Sundstrom Hill lost shingles and soffit and a flag pole was downed.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Several 12 inch diameter branches felled.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Several trees down.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Numerous trees and powerlines down. Estimated windspeed.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-Power lines down.
July 2024HailBig Lake-no account filed
June 2024HailBig Lake-no account filed
August 2023HailBig Lake-no account filed
July 2023HailBig Lake-no account filed
July 2023HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2022HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2022HailBig Lake-no account filed
April 2021HailBig Lake-no account filed
April 2021HailBig Lake-no account filed
September 2013HailBig Lake-no account filed
September 2013HailBig Lake-no account filed
July 2012Funnel CloudBig Lake-no account filed
July 2011HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2008HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2008HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2008HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2008HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2008HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2008HailBig Lake-no account filed
July 2007HailBig Lake-no account filed
September 2007HailBig Lake-no account filed
April 2007HailBig Lake-no account filed
September 2005HailBig Lake-no account filed
April 2004HailBig Lake-no account filed
May 2002HailBig Lake-no account filed
June 1998HailBig Lake-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBig Lake-no account filed
May 1994HailBig Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sherburne 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
Big Lake Estates0.4 miles13
Salida4.2 miles16
Bailey4.4 miles13
Orrock7.7 miles14
Lake Orono Estates7.8 miles13
Pine Ridge Court7.9 miles14
Becker8.1 miles16
Elk River9.7 miles13

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 Big LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1931425The 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 640098. 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.