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Dent, Minnesota

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Edna Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56528. The Survey maps it on the Dent quadrangle. 173 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,375 feet above sea level.

Dent within Otter Tail County

Population over time

2 figures

Dent fell from 192 to 173 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
2010192
2020173-19 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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

10 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Dent between 2002 and 2020, burning about 142 acres 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
Equipment and vehicle use3
Debris and open burning3
Other causes1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1

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
29 September 2012Recreation and ceremony3.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 July 2002Smokingunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 May 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined34 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 April 2004Debris and open burning64 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
29 April 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesAPRIL OTTER TAIL FIRE
26 April 2020Other causes1.5 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 April 2002Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 April 2015Equipment and vehicle use4.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otter Tail County

Storms near this place

28 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dent in 28 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 16 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2017Thunderstorm WindDent$200,000Numerous trees and large tree branches were blown down mainly on northeast edges of numerous small lakes across Star Lake and Dead Lake townships. Numerous sections of county and township roads were blocked by downed trees and branches.
August 2020Flash FloodDent$5,000Heavy rain resulted in at least eight inches of water over county road 115 at 320th street, in northern Maine Township.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindDent$5,000The wind knocked down one tree.
June 2025Tornado (EFU)Dent-Tornado was initially reported by law enforcement. Multiple pictures of the tornado exist showing it crossing Marion Lake SW of Perham MN but no damage has been reported.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindDent-A couple of healthy 7 inch diameter tree branches were broken near the community of Maine.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindDent-Tree damage was reported between Star and Big McDonald lakes.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindDent-Numerous 8 to 10 inch diameter poplar trees were snapped in northern Star Lake and western Edna townships.
July 2017HailDent-The large hail was accompanied by very heavy rain and strong wind.
July 2016HailDent-Hail covered the ground.
June 2014HailDent-The hail was accompanied by very heavy rain. The hail was reported to be an inch or more deep across yards.
September 2014HailDent-The hail fell at Big McDonald Lake.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindDent-Boat lifts, docks, and boats were flipped by the strong winds.
July 2010Tornado (EF0)Dent-A tornado briefly touched down near Dent.
June 2009Tornado (EF1)Dent-A tornado touched down briefly near Dent, knocking down several large trees and riping the roof off the dugout at the baseball field. The tornado tracked for about a mile and peak winds were estimated at 90 mph. Downburst winds produced additional wind damage around the Big McDonald and Star Lake areas.
June 2008Funnel CloudDent-A persistent funnel was viewed between Star Lake and Big McDonald Lake.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindDent-Power lines were blown down at the intersection of county roads 108 and 85.
July 2016HailDent-no account filed
September 2014HailDent-no account filed
July 2014HailDent-no account filed
July 2008HailDent-no account filed
June 2006HailDent-no account filed
July 2004HailDent-no account filed
June 2001HailDent-no account filed
August 2000HailDent-no account filed
July 2000HailDent-no account filed
July 1998HailDent-no account filed
July 1998HailDent-no account filed
June 1998HailDent-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Otter Tail 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
Richville5.8 miles12
Basswood6.9 miles13
Pine Cone Court7.5 miles12
Luce7.9 miles12
Perham8.1 miles12
Vergas8.5 miles16
Amor9.9 miles13
Grand View Heights11.0 miles12

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 DentAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2166187The 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 642771. 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.