Elbow Lake, Minnesota
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Elbow Lake City. It lies in ZIP code area 56531. The Survey maps it on the Elbow Lake quadrangle. 1,276 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,220 feet above sea level.
On record in Elbow Lake
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 2 records
Population over time
2 figuresElbow Lake grew from 1,176 to 1,276 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 | 1,176 | |
| 2020 | 1,276 | +100 (+9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 10 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.
- 1911 USGS Barrett quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Elbow Lake quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Lake Minnewaska quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Elbow Lake between 1995 and 2005, burning about 147 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 May 2005 | Debris and open burning | 25 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 March 2000 | Other causes | 13 acres | Fergus Falls Wetland Management District | BLAKESLEY |
| 17 March 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 109 acres | Fergus Falls Wetland Management District | POMMEDETER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Elbow Lake: 2 producers. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darling Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Hanson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
38 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elbow Lake in 38 storm reports between 1996 and 2022: 16 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 4 funnel cloud, 3 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $500,000 | Numerous large ash and spruce trees snapped or uprooted around town. One of 4 large 100k bushel steel grain bins was blown down at the Elbow Lake cooperative grain elevator. Wind gusts likely ranged from 70 to 90 mph for several seconds. Time estimated based on radar. The Elbow Lake wind sensor went offline due to widespread power outages. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $500,000 | Numerous large ash and spruce trees snapped or uprooted at the Tipsinah Mounds Campground. Damaging downburst winds impacted much of Erdahl Township with wind gusts from 70 to 90 mph. Two storage building were blown down near the Tipsinah Mounds Golf Course. Report augmented by NWS damage survey. Time estimated based on radar. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $100,000 | A few large branches were blown down in shelterbelts across northern Pomme de Terre Township. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $10,000 | A farm north of Elbow Lake was hit hard by the strong wind. An empty grain bin was pushed across a road and several others were damaged. A shed door was also pushed in by the wind. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $10,000 | Strong wind blew several trees over and took the roof off a barn. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $4,000 | Eight to ten inch diameter branches were blown down. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $3,000 | Numerous trees around Elbow Lake were blown over in the strong wind. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $2,000 | Power poles were downed. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | $2,000 | Large trees were blown down. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | - | Peak wind was measured at the elbow lake airport /ky63/ posted on the one minute observations. |
| July 2020 | Funnel Cloud | Elbow Lake | - | A funnel cloud was viewed near the cloud base. |
| September 2018 | Funnel Cloud | Elbow Lake | - | A funnel cloud was reported west of highway 59 near Elbow Lake in Stony Brook Township. |
| September 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | - | A few large tree branches were blown down around town. The peak wind measured at the Elbow Lake airport was 54 mph. |
| June 2015 | Funnel Cloud | Elbow Lake | - | A persistent wall cloud and funnel were observed between Elbow Lake and Ashby. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | - | Several six to eight inch diameter tree branches were blown down in Elbow Lake. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | - | A few three to five inch diameter tree branches were broken down around town. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | The hail lasted for five minutes. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | - | Many trees were blown down around Pomme de Terre Lake. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | - | A large tree was split in two by the strong wind. |
| August 2005 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | The hail fell on the north end of town. |
| June 2003 | Flash Flood | Elbow Lake | - | Water flowed across Highway 59. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elbow Lake | - | Large trees were blown down. |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Elbow Lake | - | Highway 79 was under water from the heavy rain. |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Elbow Lake | - | The railroad tracks in Elbow Lake were under water from the rain. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Funnel Cloud | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | no account filed |
| September 1996 | Hail | Elbow Lake | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thorsborg (historical) | 4.0 miles | 10 | |
| Wendell | 7.2 miles | 10 | |
| Barrett | 7.4 miles | 10 | |
| Erdahl | 8.4 miles | 10 | |
| Hereford (historical) | 8.9 miles | 9 | |
| Ashby | 10.9 miles | 13 | |
| Norcross | 14.5 miles | 10 | |
| Hoffman | 15.0 miles | 10 |
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 Elbow Lake | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2556752 | 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 643230. 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.







