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Parkers Prairie, Minnesota

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Parkers Prairie Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56361. The Survey maps it on the Parkers Prairie quadrangle. 1,020 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,470 feet above sea level.

Parkers Prairie within Otter Tail County

Population over time

2 figures

Parkers Prairie grew from 1,011 to 1,020 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
20101,011
20201,020+9 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 9 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 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Parkers Prairie between 1992 and 2016, burning about 530 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were 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 burning3
Arson/incendiarism2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Recreation and ceremony1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
4 August 1992Equipment and vehicle use10 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 May 1993Arson/incendiarism80 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 May 2016Equipment and vehicle use21 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 May 2013Debris and open burning2.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 April 2006Recreation and ceremony326 acresFergus Falls Wetland Management DistrictPARKERS PRAIRIE FIRE
8 April 2005Debris and open burning12 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
28 April 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
27 April 2010Railroad operations and maintenance16 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otter Tail County

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 Parkers Prairie: 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. 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
Douglas County Clay DepositClayOccurrence

Every working recorded in Otter Tail County

Storms near this place

50 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Parkers Prairie in 50 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 29 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 3 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
June 2001Tornado (F3)Parkers Prairie3 hurt, $5,000,000The tornado caused quite a bit of damage along its path across southeast Otter Tail county before it crossed into Todd county. At one farmstead, 9 people huddled inside a house with no basement as its roof was torn off. Nobody was injured, but another trailer home nearby was completely destroyed. Many irrigation systems were overturned, trees, power poles, and lines snapped, and grain bins destroyed by the strong wind. An estimated 100 poles were broken off leaving nearly 1,100 people without power. At another farm, a 40x80 foot pole barn was wrecked. About 6 miles northeast of Parkers Prairie, a man and his two kids rode out the storm in their minivan inside a quonset. Trees all around them and the quonset were crumpled by the wind, yet they survived. Another farmstead lost a house, trailer home, and two silos. A turkey barn containing 12,000 turkeys was also hit, with an estimated 60 percent of the turkeys perishing.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie$300,000Peak 3 second wind gusts of from 128 to 145 mph were measured by 6 different wind sensors placed at heights of from 160 to 380 feet AGL at a temporary wind energy monitoring tower site. Peak 3 second wind gusts of 119 mph were measured at a height of 20 feet AGL at this same tower site. These measurements were made as a tornado struck the site, and just prior to the collapse of the tower.
August 2020Flash FloodParkers Prairie$5,000Localized street flooding occurred after nearly two inches of rain fell in about 30 minutes. Local ditches, fields, and farm access roads flooded from over 4.50 inches of rain since just after midnight.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie$5,000Trees were blown down in Parkers Prairie.
August 2020FloodParkers Prairie$2,000Runoff continued from heavy rainfall.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-Multiple large tree limbs blown down.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-Wind gust estimated 55 to 60 mph. Winds scoured dirt from the fields creating near zero visibility for a brief time.
August 2024HailParkers Prairie-Report of golf ball sized hail relayed via Broadcast Media.
August 2024HailParkers Prairie-Public relayed ping-pong ball sized hail via social media.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-A peak wind of 60 mph was measured at a personal weather station. Reports from Otter Tail Power state that a couple of power poles were cracked or otherwise damaged in the area.
August 2020Funnel CloudParkers Prairie-A funnel cloud tracked across the northeast corner of Parkers Prairie Township.
September 2020HailParkers Prairie-Quarter sized hail was reported.
September 2020HailParkers Prairie-Quarter sized hail was reported.
September 2020HailParkers Prairie-Hail was covering the ground like snow.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-An irrigation system was flipped over.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-Numerous trees were blown down around town. At least one tree fell on a house.
July 2017HailParkers Prairie-Quarter to golf ball sized hail fell, covering the highway.
August 2016HailParkers Prairie-The hail was mostly pea and dime size.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-Large trees were blown down.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-Several 5 to 6 inch diameter tree branches were blown down.
July 2007HailParkers Prairie-Heavy rain and wind also accompanied the hail. This knocked down some smaller tree branches.
June 2005Funnel CloudParkers Prairie-A wall cloud with pendant funnel was seen moving to the north.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Parkers Prairie-The tornado stayed in a wildlife area to the west of highway 29.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-Twelve power poles were knocked down around Parkers Prairie because of falling trees. Roughly 6300 customers were without power. Trees fell on several homes and on a nursing home roof. A fertilizer storage shed was also blown over. The high school football field scoreboard was blown off its support poles and was thrown several hundred feet away. The baseball scoreboard was twisted and a nearby storage shed was blown through a chainlink fence and flipped over. Shingle damage was also reported throughout town. This was part of intermittent downburst wind damage that was reported from Rothsay to Parkers Prairie.
June 2003Flash FloodParkers Prairie-Street flooding was reported.
June 2001Flash FloodParkers Prairie-Water was reported over the road.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-A 70 knot wind gust blew down several trees.
June 2001HailParkers Prairie-The large hail broke a car's windshield in Parkers Prairie.
July 2019HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
August 2015HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
August 2011HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2011HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
April 2007HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
March 2004HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
April 2003HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2003HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2001HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2001HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2001HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2001HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2001HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 2001HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
July 2001HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-no account filed
August 1999HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 1997HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
June 1996HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindParkers Prairie-no account filed
July 1996HailParkers Prairie-no account filed
August 1995HailParkers Prairie-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
Parkers Prairie Park0.3 miles9
Almora6.7 miles9
Urbank9.9 miles9
Wrightstown11.3 miles9
Henning13.2 miles9
Vining13.4 miles13
Lyman13.6 miles9
Woodland Park15.4 miles13

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 Parkers PrairieAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1004387The 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 649161. 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.