BlockBefore

Brownton, Minnesota

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Brownton City. It lies in ZIP code area 55312. The Survey maps it on the Brownton quadrangle. 731 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,030 feet above sea level.

Brownton within McLeod County

Population over time

2 figures

Brownton fell from 762 to 731 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
2010762
2020731-31 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 10 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.

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 Brownton: 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
Reed's PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in McLeod County

Storms near this place

53 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brownton in 53 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 22 hail, 19 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 3 heavy rain. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 2011Thunderstorm WindBrownton1 hurtNumerous large trees uprooted around town. A mini van was crushed due to a fallen tree. Plus, an eight year old girl was injured due to falling debris.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBrownton1 hurtA semi trailer was blown off the road due to a severe thunderstorm outflow boundary. It was on County Road 15, three miles south of the intersection of State Road 212 and County Road 15. The driver was injured due to the crash.
March 2010FloodBrownton$190,000An ice jam along the Buffalo Creek in Mcleod County caused flooding on Division Street in Brownton. In addition, county officials reported 16 partially blocked county roads throughout Mcleod County due to flooding along Buffalo Creek. At least one home had basement flooding due to flood waters. By the 18th of March, the flood waters from the Buffalo Creek reached Glencoe which flooded 100th Street.
August 2020Tornado (EF0)Brownton$100,000An NWS survey found damage consistent with an EF-0 tornado in McLeod County north of Brownton. Several trees were snapped, a trailer was overturned, and a metal grain silo wall was damaged and collapsed. There were numerous photos and videos of this tornado taken by storm chasers and shared on social media.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBrownton$10,000Several large tree limbs were blown down and a tree was uprooted in the Brownton area. On 147 5th Ave South in Brownton, a tree branch punctured a roof.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindBrownton$500Several trees were blown down, along with a fence in a baseball field, and two large pine trees.
August 2023Funnel CloudBrownton-A trained spotter reported an on and off funnel cloud, and no ground contact.
August 2023HailBrownton-There was a picture of hail next to a ruler on social media.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Several large trees and power lines were blown down around Glencoe, Minnesota. There were also reports of sporadic damage to trees and power lines around Brownton, Biscay and Lester Prairie.
August 2016Heavy RainBrownton-A trained spotter measured 5.40 inches of rain in Brownton.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindBrownton-A large tree fell on a power line in Brownton.
April 2012Tornado (EF0)Brownton-A storm chaser observed a brief tornado touch down southwest of Brownton, Minnesota. No damage was observed as it tracked less than a few hundred feet in a open field.
May 2012Heavy RainBrownton-A local observer measured 3.57 inches in the last 24 hours.
March 2011FloodBrownton-Several state highways, and county roads became impassable due to Spring snow melt and the associated runoff through the end of March. Areas along the Buffalo and South Fork of the Crow River were the hardest hit with road closures.
August 2010Flash FloodBrownton-Several inches of rainfall occurred between 11 PM CST to 1 AM CST across a large area of Mcleod County. Significant street flooding occurred in the town of Brownton, Minnesota where a few streets were closed during the height of the storm.
August 2009Heavy RainBrownton-The local COOP Observer recorded 4.70 inches of rainfall in a six hour period.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Shed blown over and grain bin blown off foundation on 100th St. two miles West of Highway 15.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Large branches, poles and powerlines down.
June 2005Funnel CloudBrownton-Several citizens reported funnel clouds in the area.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Trees and power lines were downed. A power line fell onto Highway 212 near Unit Avenue about 3 miles east of town. A tractor trailer hit the downed wire and pulled down a transmission pole.
August 2005HailBrownton-Dime sized hail was reported by law enforcement at the intersection of Highway 212 and Orange Avenue.
September 2005HailBrownton-Dime sized hail fell in town and a few miles north of town at the intersection of 110th Street and Highway 15.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindBrownton-A cluster of trees was downed.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Trees were downed.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Numerous trees down, including one across a road in Brownton.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Tree blown down onto house.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Large branches down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Grain bin and hay bales blown over. Few trees down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Power pole blown down. Estimated windspeed.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Large branches blown down. Estimated windspeed.
July 1997Tornado (F0)Brownton-Tree damage.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindBrownton-Trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
June 1997Flash FloodBrownton-Flooded basement resulted in wall collapse. Water over highway 22.
October 1997HailBrownton-Hail accumulated to a depth of 3 inches with drifts to one foot.
July 2017HailBrownton-no account filed
May 2016HailBrownton-no account filed
August 2012HailBrownton-no account filed
June 2010HailBrownton-no account filed
August 2009HailBrownton-no account filed
June 2004HailBrownton-no account filed
June 2004HailBrownton-no account filed
May 2004HailBrownton-no account filed
July 2002HailBrownton-no account filed
August 2002HailBrownton-no account filed
August 2002HailBrownton-no account filed
September 2002HailBrownton-no account filed
May 1998HailBrownton-no account filed
June 1997HailBrownton-no account filed
June 1997HailBrownton-no account filed
October 1997HailBrownton-no account filed
May 1996HailBrownton-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindBrownton-no account filed
June 1994HailBrownton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McLeod 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
Sumter4.6 miles10
Stewart7.2 miles10
Heatwole7.5 miles10
Biscay7.7 miles10
Fernando7.9 miles10
Koniska10.5 miles10
West Lynn10.6 miles10
Hutchinson10.8 miles11

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 BrowntonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2346547The 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 640549. 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.

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.