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Side Lake, Minnesota

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1976. It stands in French Township. It lies in ZIP code area 55781. The Survey maps it on the Side Lake quadrangle.

Side Lake within St. Louis County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 10 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

72 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 72 fires within 5 miles of Side Lake between 1992 and 2020, burning about 38 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 16 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 burning21
Arson/incendiarism16
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Equipment and vehicle use7
Natural6
Recreation and ceremony6
Power generation/transmission/distribution3

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
9 September 2006Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 September 1998Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 September 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 September 2018Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 August 2005Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 August 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 August 2018Naturalunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 August 1993Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in St. Louis County

Storms near this place

16 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Side Lake in 16 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 2 hail, 1 tornado. 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 2021Thunderstorm WindSide Lake$10,000Photos were received of damage to trees and docks around Side Lake.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindSide Lake$2,000A few trees were blown down, and severe wind gusts bent pine trees to the ground.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-A few 1 inch diameter tree limbs were reported down.
June 2024Flash FloodSide Lake-A video was received showing 3 to 6 inches of water quickly flowing down County Road 766 near the Sturgeon River crossing. The water was covering the entire road.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-Several trees were down with several onto power lines.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-Four trees were blown over.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-Multiple trees were snapped at the spotter's location.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-Some structural damage was reported due to large pine trees snapping and hitting buildings.
September 2018Flash FloodSide Lake-St. Louis County Highway 65 was washed out between the Sturgeon River Crossing and Luna Lake.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-A tree was blown down near the intersection of Green Rock Road and Belchner Road.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-Three trees blown down blocking Highway 5 and Perch Lake Road.
September 2007Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office reported that winds up to 60 mph caused damage in French Township around Side Lake, with downed trees and power lines.
July 2003Tornado (F0)Side Lake-The tornado touched down in a very rural, wooded area.
June 2025HailSide Lake-no account filed
July 2018HailSide Lake-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindSide Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in St. Louis 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
Bear River8.5 miles8
Sturgeon10.9 miles10
Lavinia13.8 miles14
Meadow Brook14.0 miles9
Chisholm14.0 miles14
Celina14.1 miles8
Mahoning15.1 miles14
Linden Grove15.7 miles10

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 662444. 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.