BlockBefore

Prior Lake, Minnesota

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Prior Lake City. It lies in ZIP code area 55372. It lies near Reeds Island. The Survey maps it on the Prior Lake quadrangle. 27,617 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 948 feet above sea level.

Prior Lake within Scott County

Population over time

2 figures

Prior Lake grew from 22,796 to 27,617 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
201022,796
202027,617+4,821 (+21%)

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

3 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Prior Lake between 2009 and 2013, burning about 144 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
Recreation and ceremony2
Debris and open burning1

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
5 August 2013Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMinnesota Valley National Wildlife RefugeLOUISVILLE SWAMP
11 May 2013Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMinnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge126TH STREET
15 April 2009Debris and open burning144 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Scott County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Prior Lake: 3 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Prior Lake Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Highway Quarry & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Jordan Quartz Pit & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Scott County

Storms near this place

60 of 71 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Prior Lake in 71 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 40 hail, 21 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 3 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. 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
March 1996LightningPrior Lake1 hurtno account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake$17,600,0002500 trees lost. 100 boats, lifts and docks damaged. 28 homes sustained major damage. Damage estimate for entire county.
September 2005LightningPrior Lake$604,000Three homes were struck by lightning and were damaged by the resulting fire. The first home on Highview Court suffered damage when lightning struck the outside gas meter. An outer wall caught fire and damage was estimated at $4,000. The second house on Prairie Hills Lane was engulfed in flames and has extensive roof and garage damage totaling $500,000. The third home on Century Lane suffered $100,000 in fire damage to interior walls after two bolts struck the building.
June 2001HailPrior Lake$500,000Wind driven hail damaged houses and vehicles.
September 2021Tornado (EF0)Prior Lake$250,000An EFO tornado touched down near Highway 13 and Connelly Parkway and moved east for 2.1 miles. There was sporadic damage along this path with maximum winds of 85 mph. Most of the damage was due to trees falling on houses and vehicles. The worst damage occurred near the intersection of Connelly Parkway and Dakota Avenue South where roof damage occurred at the Savage Public Works and Light. The city of Savage transformer station also had damage near this intersection, and most of the street lights and signs were damage.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake$5,000Several power lines and a street lamp were damaged between 154th and 150th Streets, along Allen Street, or County Road 27, east of Prior Lake.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Tree down across Cassandra St in Prior Lake.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Large tree down 2 miles west of Prior Lake in the Spring Lake Estates neighborhood.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Large tree branches were down.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Several trees were blown down near County Road 21 & 18.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Several trees were blown down near Highway 169, and County Road 21.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-A 12 inch in diameter tree was snapped in half.
August 2017Tornado (EF0)Prior Lake-A tornado developed near the intersection of 145th Street NW and Mystic Lake Drive. It tracked 1.2 miles northwest. Fencing and tents were blown over, trees were uprooted, and a fish house was spun around. The maximum estimated wind speed was 70 mph.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Several trees were blown down in Credit River Township.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-A measured wind gust near Highway 13 and 42 in Savage.
August 2016Flash FloodPrior Lake-There was eight inches of water along Eagle Creek Ave Southeast in Prior Lake. It affected traffic on the northbound side of the bridge between Upper and Lower Prior Lake.
June 2015HailPrior Lake-Several reports of hail occurred near the city of Prior Lake. The largest hail stone was ping pong size.
May 2014HailPrior Lake-Several areas between Prior Lake and Savage had hail up to the size of dimes for nearly 10 to 15 minutes.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-A few large trees blew down in Prior Lake around Memorial Park.
July 2013Heavy RainPrior Lake-A measured rainfall amount of 4.95 inches fell in less than 4 hours.
July 2013Heavy RainPrior Lake-A measured rainfall amount of 4.30 inches fell in less than 3 hours.
May 2011HailPrior Lake-Hail fell at County Road 44 and Franklin Trail.
June 2010Flash FloodPrior Lake-Several streets in Prior Lake had major street flooding due to rainfall rates as high as two inches per hour. It caused several cars to stall on Eagle Creek Road, and Grainwood Road.
August 2009Heavy RainPrior Lake-Two off duty National Weather Service employees in Prior Lake, Minnesota reported nearly four inches of rainfall in a six hour period.
May 2008HailPrior Lake-Largest hailstone measured 0.8 inch but most were 0.5 inches in diameter.
September 2007Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Tree toppled onto power line along East Lower 167th Street.
August 2007HailPrior Lake-Occurred at Highway 13 and County Road 44, and also at the intersections of County Roads 21 and 42.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Trees down.
June 2007HailPrior Lake-Occurred at intersection of Highway 13 and 17.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Six inch branches were downed.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Several trees were downed.
June 2005HailPrior Lake-Dime to nickel sized hail fell.
June 2005HailPrior Lake-Dime to quarter sized hail fell near the intersection of County Road 44 and Highway 13.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Branches up to 5 inches in diameter were downed. A trained spotter recorded a wind gust of 60 MPH.
April 2004Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Two towers were downed and two were damaged at a radio station. Several outbuildings were damaged nearby. Numerous trees were also downed in the vicinity.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Tree toppled.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Trees down. Estimated windspeed.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindPrior Lake-Trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
July 1994HailPrior Lake-Strong thunderstorm winds damaged several buildings near Jordan.
June 2025HailPrior Lake-no account filed
July 2023HailPrior Lake-no account filed
August 2021HailPrior Lake-no account filed
May 2018HailPrior Lake-no account filed
July 2017HailPrior Lake-no account filed
July 2017HailPrior Lake-no account filed
July 2017HailPrior Lake-no account filed
August 2016HailPrior Lake-no account filed
August 2013HailPrior Lake-no account filed
May 2012HailPrior Lake-no account filed
April 2012HailPrior Lake-no account filed
May 2012HailPrior Lake-no account filed
May 2012HailPrior Lake-no account filed
May 2008HailPrior Lake-no account filed
July 2008HailPrior Lake-no account filed
July 2008HailPrior Lake-no account filed
August 2006HailPrior Lake-no account filed
June 2005HailPrior Lake-no account filed
September 2005HailPrior Lake-no account filed
May 2004HailPrior Lake-no account filed
May 2004HailPrior Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Scott 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
Grainwood1.1 miles12
Spring Lake2.2 miles12
Credit River3.5 miles12
Glendale3.7 miles25
Barden5.4 miles25
Lydia5.9 miles12
Marystown6.3 miles12
Savage6.4 miles26

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 Prior LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q993458The 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 649740. 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.