Ulen, Minnesota
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Ulen City. It lies in ZIP code area 56585. It stands on Stiner Creek. The Survey maps it on the Ulen quadrangle. 476 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,152 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresUlen fell from 547 to 476 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 547 | |
| 2020 | 476 | -71 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 10 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.
- 1918 USGS Ulen quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1952 USGS Grand Forks quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Grand Forks quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Grand Forks quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Ulen quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Ada quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
4 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Ulen between 1993 and 2015, burning about 90 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 July 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | WET WILLOW |
| 21 April 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | FLICKER TL |
| 17 March 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 3.0 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | KORELL 1 |
| 1 November 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 66 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | FUGLIE |
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Ulen: 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Ulven Pit & Mill No 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
31 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ulen in 31 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 13 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 3 funnel cloud, 2 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 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | $250,000 | Twelve to eighteen inch diameter trees were blown down. Powerlines were also blown down with localized street flooding in Ulen. Wind driven hail damaged fields and buildings. |
| July 2017 | Tornado (EF2) | Ulen | $25,000 | This tornado began at 742 pm CST, 3 miles north of Borup, in Norman County. This tornado collapsed at least one shed, snapped numerous trees, and tossed large round hay bales across a sugar beet field. It also snapped at least a half dozen wooden power poles. Peak winds were estimated at 125 mph. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | $20,000 | A tree was blown into a house, damaging the roof. A barn was also heavily damaged. |
| May 2013 | Flood | Ulen | $15,000 | Heavy rains overwhelmed the city lift station and produced widespread street flooding through the early morning. Some water got into structures like garages and outbuildings. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | $2,000 | 12 inch diameter tree limbs were blown down. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | $500 | Several trees were blown down. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | $500 | Several trees were damaged. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | $200 | Tree limbs were blown down. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | - | Trees blown down. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | - | Public in Ulen reports very large tree blown over with limbs shredded. Time estimated from radar. |
| July 2022 | Funnel Cloud | Ulen | - | Broadcast media partner relayed a public report of a funnel cloud that persisted for over a minute, with no touchdown apparent. Time is estimated based on radar. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | - | A tall, two stall garage was collapsed by the wind. Several trees were snapped or uprooted in the surrounding area. Time based on radar. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | - | Trees were blown down in a shelterbelt. |
| May 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Ulen | - | A persistent wall cloud with a brief funnel was noted by multiple spotters. |
| May 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Ulen | - | A brief funnel cloud was observed near Ulen. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Ulen | - | Marble to dime size hail was reported. |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Ulen | - | Roads were washed out. |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Ulen | - | County roads were flooded by the heavy rain. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ulen | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Ulen | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hitterdal | 7.0 miles | 8 | |
| Manitoba Junction | 11.9 miles | 7 | |
| Dale | 12.2 miles | 7 | |
| Winnipeg Junction | 12.6 miles | 7 | |
| Felton | 13.1 miles | 8 | |
| Hawley | 14.0 miles | 8 | |
| Muskoda | 16.9 miles | 9 | |
| Averill | 17.0 miles | 23 |
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 Ulen | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1012341 | The 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 653486. 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.





