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Rothsay, Minnesota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1989. It lies in ZIP code area 56579. The Survey maps it on the Rothsay quadrangle. 498 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,211 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Rothsay within Wilkin County

On record in Rothsay

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 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Rothsay between 2003 and 2013, burning about 2,860 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
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1
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
10 May 2013Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 October 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined2,855 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesROTHSAY
23 October 2003Smokingunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Wilkin County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Rothsay: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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
Foxhome Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Rasmussen PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Wilkin County

Storms near this place

57 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rothsay in 57 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 38 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 4 tornado, 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
May 1996Thunderstorm WindRothsay$50,000no account filed
June 2002Tornado (F2)Rothsay$25,000A brief tornado touchdown demolished a 76x296 foot roof on a turkey barn.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindRothsay$5,000A semi truck was overturned on Interstate 94.
May 2012FloodRothsay$5,000no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindRothsay$1,000Several large branches were blown down.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Measurement on 10 meter NDAWN sensor.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Public reports 10-inch healthy tree blown down in Rothsay. Time estimated from radar, wind gust estimated.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Peak wind was measured at a MNDOT RWIS station along interstate 94.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Peak wind was measured by a MNDOT RWIS station located along Interstate 94. Large tree branches, 6 to 10 inches in diameter, were snapped around the town of Rothsay.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindRothsay-A Minnesota DOT RWIS station measured this wind gust.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Rothsay RWIS measured a 64 mph wind gust.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS mesonet sensor.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a RWIS mesonet sensor.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Trees were blown down around town.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a RWIS mesonet sensor.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a RWIS mesonet station. Local power outages also occurred.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind speeds were estimated.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Trees were blown down and a home was damaged.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Several large trees and power lines were blown down. Many three to six inch diameter tree branches were also broken off in town.
September 2013Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured at the MNDOT RWIS site located along Interstate 94 outside of Rothsay. The local power company reported that localized power outages began around this time across northeast Wilkin County and northwest Otter Tail County, due to broken tree limbs falling across power lines.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The winds were measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Numerous large tree branches were blown down around town. Power outages were also reported.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured at the MNDOT RWIS site along Interstate 94 near mile point 37.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Numerous three to four inch diameter tree branches were blown down on and near highway 9.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The strong wind gusts were measured by a MNDOT RWIS site.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor northwest of Rothsay. Stronger wind gusts may have occurred shortly after, but the power failed.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Many large tree branches were broken off in shelterbelts.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Numerous trees were blown down or snapped off at a rural farmstead. A steel grain bin was blown off its pad and was rolled about 100 yards into a grain field east-southeast of the farmstead.
August 2005Tornado (F1)Rothsay-A torrnado briefly touched down and tracked eastward for about one-quarter of a mile across the north edge of a farmstead. Numerous trees were snapped off or uprooted. A 12x48 foot mobile home was flipped onto its top and destroyed. The mobile home had been resting on its transport wheels in an east-west orientation and was not anchored. It was flipped about 25 yards to the northeast and landed in a north-south orientation. Peak winds were estimated at 110 mph.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Grain bins were tipped over and many large trees were blown down in Akron Township, section 13.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
August 2005Flash FloodRothsay-Excessive rainfall and overland flooding damaged the Rothsay High School.
September 2005Thunderstorm WindRothsay-Large tree branches were blown down along the Wilkin/Otter Tail County line.
May 2004Tornado (F0)Rothsay-Three funnels formed and one briefly touched down.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindRothsay-The Rothsay MNDOT RWIS site reported a 58 mph wind gust.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindRothsay-A 71 mph wind gust was measured at the MNDOT RWIS site near Rothsay.
August 2004Tornado (F0)Rothsay-A brief touchdown was seen from the Rothsay truck stop.
June 2016HailRothsay-no account filed
June 2016HailRothsay-no account filed
August 2008HailRothsay-no account filed
August 2005HailRothsay-no account filed
August 2005HailRothsay-no account filed
May 2004HailRothsay-no account filed
August 2002HailRothsay-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindRothsay-no account filed
August 2001HailRothsay-no account filed
August 2000HailRothsay-no account filed
August 1999HailRothsay-no account filed
July 1998HailRothsay-no account filed
June 1998HailRothsay-no account filed
June 1996HailRothsay-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Wilkin 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
Lawndale7.1 miles9
Foxhome13.7 miles11
Everdell15.8 miles11
Brushvale20.6 miles11
Kent21.6 miles9
Breckenridge21.9 miles11
Doran22.7 miles8
McCauleyville22.8 miles9

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 RothsayAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2229275The 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 650315. 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.