Waite Park, Minnesota
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Waite Park City. It lies in ZIP code area 56387. The Survey maps it on the Saint Cloud quadrangle. 8,341 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,070 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWaite Park grew from 6,715 to 8,341 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 | 6,715 | |
| 2020 | 8,341 | +1,626 (+24%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 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.
- 1950 USGS St. Cloud quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS St Cloud quadrangle1:24000
- 1974 USGS St. Cloud quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS St. Cloud quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
25 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Waite Park between 1993 and 2018, burning about 77 acres in total. None started naturally. 13 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 13 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 12 August 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 August 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.1 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 July 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 June 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 May 2018 | Debris and open burning | 8.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 May 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 April 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Waite Park: 4 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Granite, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardrives Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| J L Shiely Co Quarry & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Charcoal Gray Quarry | Granite | Producer | ||
| Diamond Pink Quarry | Granite | Producer |
Storms near this place
32 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waite Park in 32 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 14 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2009 | Lightning | Waite Park | 1 killed, 1 hurt | Several thunderstorms developed across the St. Cloud area the afternoon of May 6th. An individual was working in his backyard at the time one of the thunderstorms moved through and was struck by lightning. The injuries related to the lightning strike caused his unfortunate death six days later. |
| August 2011 | Lightning | Waite Park | $100,000 | Lightning struck Hardrives Inc, business in Waite Park, Minnesota, and caused damage to the building. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | $50,000 | Several large trees, some over two feet in diameter, were blown down across the a large portion of St. Cloud, Minnesota. Some of the trees were entirely uprooted, and power was out in parts of St. Cloud. |
| July 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Waite Park | $50,000 | About one dozen trees, and some large branches, were broken or toppled. Minor damage to several houses was noted. |
| July 2015 | Lightning | Waite Park | $400 | A St. Cloud home suffered minor fire damage caused by a lightning strike Tuesday morning, July 28th. Firefighters arrived to find a small fire that the homeowner had put out with an extinguisher. The fire department estimated damage to the house at $400, and reported no injuries. |
| May 2025 | Funnel Cloud | Waite Park | - | A trained spotter reported seeing a funnel cloud to the southwest of their location in Sartell as a line of storms approached from St. Joseph. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph downed several large tree limbs, blocking trailway. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph downed a large pine tree down in southern Waite Park. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 65 mph downed several large trees near CR4 north of Waite Park. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | A few large tree branches were blown down around St. Cloud. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | Waite Park | - | Storm total from overnight thunderstorms 4.20 inches. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | There were two large trees uprooted. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | Large trees were blown down. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down, including one tree on a house. |
| July 2015 | Flash Flood | Waite Park | - | Multiple vehicles were reported stuck in high water at the intersection of 33rd Avenue and 8th Street North in St. Cloud. Other areas in the city of St. Cloud reported minor ponding of water at some intersections. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | Power lines and multiple trees downed. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Waite Park | - | Reported near 320th and County Road 4. |
| September 2005 | Heavy Rain | Waite Park | - | Three inches of water covered a road in Waite Park. Minor street flooding was reported at St. Cloud State University. |
| May 2022 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| September 2017 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Waite Park | - | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Hail | Waite Park | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverview Park | 0.6 miles | 12 | |
| Saint Cloud | 3.3 miles | 12 | |
| Five Points | 4.0 miles | 12 | |
| Hi-Vue Park | 4.0 miles | 12 | |
| Sartell | 4.5 miles | 12 | |
| Evergreen Village | 4.5 miles | 12 | |
| Saint Joseph | 5.0 miles | 12 | |
| Pleasant Lake | 5.3 miles | 8 |
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 Waite Park | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1924119 | 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 653722. 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.






