Ottertail, Minnesota
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Ottertail City. It lies in ZIP code area 56571. The Survey maps it on the Ottertail quadrangle. 629 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,352 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresOttertail grew from 572 to 629 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 | 572 | |
| 2020 | 629 | +57 (+10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1912 USGS Battle Lake quadrangle1:62500
- 1914 USGS Battle Lake quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Ottertail quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Battle Lake quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
5 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Ottertail between 1993 and 2020, burning about 80 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 May 1993 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 20 May 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 27 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 May 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 March 2010 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
45 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ottertail in 45 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 20 thunderstorm wind, 18 hail, 3 tornado, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | $2,000,000 | An 85,000 bushel grain bin was flattened against the Ottertail elevator. Another 90,000 bushel bin crumpled to the ground, and two other 45,000 bushel bins were damaged by the strong wind. Around the town, a storage shed was blown apart, a marine business was damaged, several irrigation systems were twisted, trees were uprooted, and many signs were damaged. A pontoon was picked up by the wind and thrown 150 feet into a spruce tree. |
| August 2004 | Tornado (F1) | Ottertail | $200,000 | The tornado tracked from the Pickerel Lake area, across Ottertail Lake, to around 2 miles southwest of Ottertail. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped off. Boat lifts and docks were strewn around the lake shores. Downed trees fell on the roofs of several homes. Power poles were snapped off causing widespread power outages. Several people reported a loud "freight train" sound. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Ottertail | $30,000 | A few minutes of very large hail was reported along the northeast edge of Otter Tail Lake. |
| August 2014 | Flash Flood | Ottertail | $15,000 | Several secondary and county roads were overtopped and damaged due to flood waters. The Leaf River was reported flowing upstream due to higher downstream water. |
| August 2010 | Flash Flood | Ottertail | $1,000 | Rainfall amounts from 4 to 5 inches produced flooding to area fields and farm access roads. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | $500 | A large tree was blown down across highway 78. |
| September 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | $500 | Several trees were blown down. |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | $500 | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | $200 | Branches were blown down. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Estimated 60 to 70 mph winds as the initial line of thunderstorms rolled through, with tree damage to branches larger than their forearm. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Ottertail | - | Trained spotter reports quarter sized hail in Ottertail, MN. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Ottertail | - | An mPING report of quarter sized hail in Ottertail. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | An mPING report of trees uprooted and snapped from 1 west Ottertail. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Roofing was blown off of two buildings in town. Large trees snapped and broken down. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Received a report of trees down on power lines, resulting in local power outages. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Public reports of downed trees and power lines, with multiple periods of 70 mph wind gusts. Reports were relayed via social media. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | The wind gust was measured by a personal weather station. Pontoons were flipped and docks were damaged. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Multiple trees were blown down. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | A gazebo was blown over and a few shingles were blown off the roof of a house. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Large branches were knocked down by the strong winds, causing power outages. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Numerous four to eight inch diameter tree branches and limbs were blown down around Ottertail, along with several power lines. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Ottertail | - | Widespread power outages were also reported. |
| June 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Ottertail | - | A persistent funnel with an intermittent waterspout was seen over northeast Otter Tail Lake. The waterspout was evident for about a minute. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Ottertail | - | Lots of dime to quarter size hail fell. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Ottertail | - | The large hail fell for a couple of minutes along with torrential rain. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Ottertail | - | Pea to quarter sized hail fell at the Molls Berry Farm. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | The area from Rush Lake through Ottertail to about three miles south of Ottertail had tremendous wind damage. Corn and other crops were flattened along with a lot of tree damage. The area lost power for about two hours. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | A roof was blown off a building. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS site on highway 78. |
| July 2009 | Heavy Rain | Ottertail | - | Roughly 3.50 inches of rain fell in a 3 hour period. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Ottertail | - | The hail fell near Walker Lake. |
| June 2005 | Tornado (F2) | Ottertail | - | Large trees were uprooted and a roof was torn off a house. The top was torn off a wooden grain elevator in Ottertail and a nearby grain bin was bent inward. A gas pump was blown over at a convenience store, causing a fire. The tornado also tore the roof off a business in Ottertail and destroyed its sign. A delivery truck was lifted off the ground and thrown 20 feet onto a nearby car. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | The strong winds damaged boats, docks, and boat lifts around Rush Lake. Many trees were also blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail | - | Hundreds of trees were blown over at the Balmoral Golf Course, making it unplayable for nearly a week. This was the second consecutive summer the golf course was hit with high winds and tremendous tree damage. |
| August 2020 | Funnel Cloud | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| April 2020 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Ottertail | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Ottertail | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaf City (historical) | 5.0 miles | 9 | |
| Richville | 6.7 miles | 12 | |
| Inglewood | 7.0 miles | 13 | |
| Basswood | 7.5 miles | 13 | |
| Woodland Park | 8.0 miles | 13 | |
| Heinola | 8.2 miles | 9 | |
| Henning | 9.3 miles | 9 | |
| Richdale | 9.9 miles | 9 |
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 Ottertail | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2102484 | 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 649060. 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.







