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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.

Phelps within Otter Tail County

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.

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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

4 since 1992

Regional 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 burning3
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
31 July 2007Debris and open burning1.5 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2005Debris and open burning6.5 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 1992Debris and open burning2.5 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 April 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined45 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otter Tail County

Storms near this place

21 since 1998

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2024HailPhelps-West Lost Lake is where the hail fell.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindPhelps-A few large tree branches were blown down.
September 2019Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Numerous large tree branches were blown down between Lake Lida and Otter Tail Lake.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPhelps-The strong winds blew down displays at the Phelps Mill art festival.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindPhelps-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 2010Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Strong east winds flipped multiple boat lifts and damaged several docks on the west end of Otter Tail Lake.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Strong winds were reported along with a large shelf cloud.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Highway 72 was closed near the southwest corner of Otter Tail Lake, as many trees were blown down onto the road.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Dozens of trees were blown down and power was lost. One tree fell on a van, crushing it.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindPhelps-6 to 8 inch diameter branches were blown down.
July 1998HailPhelps-Grapefruit-sized hail fell at West Lost Lake. As the hail hit the water, plumes jumped up 3 feet high.
June 2016HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-no account filed
July 1998Flash FloodPhelps-no account filed
July 1998HailPhelps-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
Maine2.2 miles12
Amor4.6 miles13
Underwood7.1 miles12
Basswood8.5 miles13
Inglewood8.8 miles13
Battle Lake8.9 miles13
Wall Lake9.8 miles12
Edwards10.1 miles12

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.