Downer, Minnesota
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Elkton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56514. The Survey maps it on the Downer quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 9 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.
- 1919 USGS Hawley quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Fargo quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Fargo quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Downer quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Fargo quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Fargo quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
4 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Downer between 2006 and 2015, burning about 1,035 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 use | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 August 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | BJORNSON |
| 22 July 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 205 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | DOWNER PRAIRIE NORTH |
| 7 October 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 720 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | BUFFALO RIVER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 21 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of Downer: 18 producers, 3 past producers. 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becket and Leach Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Bouton Pit No 1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Bouton Pit No 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Clay County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Clay County Pit No 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Grommesh Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Kost Brothers No.51 Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Kost Pit No 10 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Kost Pit No 11 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Kost Pit No 12 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
11 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Downer in 11 storm reports between 2002 and 2023: 6 hail, 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2011 | Hail | Downer | $5,000 | The hail was described as being the size and shape of pears. Wind and wind driven hail completely flattened nearby crops in elkton township. |
| September 2002 | Tornado (F1) | Downer | $1,000 | A 14x14 foot one thousand pound shed door was torn off a barn and thrown 150 feet on top of a 24 foot high grain bin. Calf pens were also flipped over. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Downer | - | Property damage with multiple hail pictures suggesting 3 inches or larger possible, based on visual estimates. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Downer | - | Large branches were blown down at farmsteads across northern Humboldt Township. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Downer | - | Hail covered the road east of Downer. |
| June 2015 | Tornado (EF0) | Downer | - | The tornado was observed from Interstate 94, where a series of dust plumes were noted. |
| July 2011 | Hail | Downer | - | Very heavy rain fell along with a few dime to penny sized hail. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Downer | - | Tree limbs were blown down. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Downer | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Funnel Cloud | Downer | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Downer | - | 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.
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 642918. 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.





