Phelps, Minnesota
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Maine Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56586. The Survey maps it on the Phelps quadrangle.
On record in Phelps
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 within a mile 2 records
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Phelps Milllisted 1975 · 0.0 miles away- Phelps Mill Historic Districtlisted 1984 · 0.0 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 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.
- 1915 USGS Underwood 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 Phelps quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Battle Lake quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
4 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Phelps between 1992 and 2007, burning about 56 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 | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 July 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 April 2005 | Debris and open burning | 6.5 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 April 1992 | Debris and open burning | 2.5 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 April 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
21 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Phelps in 21 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 11 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2024 | Hail | Phelps | - | West Lost Lake is where the hail fell. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | A few large tree branches were blown down. |
| September 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | Numerous large tree branches were blown down between Lake Lida and Otter Tail Lake. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | The strong winds blew down displays at the Phelps Mill art festival. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | In the Weetown area north of Fergus Falls, boats were blown onto roads, fish houses were tipped over, and trailers and trees were blown over. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | Strong east winds flipped multiple boat lifts and damaged several docks on the west end of Otter Tail Lake. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | Strong winds were reported along with a large shelf cloud. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | Highway 72 was closed near the southwest corner of Otter Tail Lake, as many trees were blown down onto the road. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | Dozens of trees were blown down and power was lost. One tree fell on a van, crushing it. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Phelps | - | 6 to 8 inch diameter branches were blown down. |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | Grapefruit-sized hail fell at West Lost Lake. As the hail hit the water, plumes jumped up 3 feet high. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Flash Flood | Phelps | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Phelps | - | 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 654877. 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.






