Watertown, Minnesota
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Watertown City. It lies in ZIP code area 55388. The Survey maps it on the Watertown quadrangle. 4,659 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 935 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWatertown grew from 4,205 to 4,659 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 | 4,205 | |
| 2020 | 4,659 | +454 (+11%) |
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.
- 1953 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Waconia quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Watertown quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Watertown between 2006 and 2019, burning about 129 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 June 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 28 March 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 60 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 October 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 52 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
43 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watertown in 43 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 21 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 2 heavy rain. 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 2010 | Hail | Watertown | $1,500,000 | Several trained spotters reported numerous dime, up to baseball size hail from north of Watertown, southeast to the southeast part of Watertown. Damage was extensive to crops and homes throughout the area. |
| September 2019 | Tornado (EF0) | Watertown | $25,000 | A NWS Storm Survey determined an EF0 tornado developed east of Watertown near County Road 20, and moved southeast into Hennepin County, north of Timber Creek Golf Course. Most of the damage was consistent with EF0 damage with numerous trees blown down or uprooted along its path. The path length in Carver County was 1.3 miles, with a maximum width of 90 yards. The tornado was also confirmed by the MPX radar in real time given the Tornado Debris Signature sampled by the radar. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | $25,000 | A roof was blown off a barn west of Watertown. In addition, several trees and power lines were blown down in Watertown. One power pole was blown down on a car and damaged it. |
| June 2024 | Heavy Rain | Watertown | - | The storm total was 3.1 inches of rainfall. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Several trees and power lines were downed, with one partially blocking a road. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Several large trees and power lines were blown down in the city of Watertown. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Several large tree branches were blown down southeast of Watertown on Nike Road. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | A large tree was blown down in Watertown. |
| March 2010 | Flood | Watertown | - | Mill Avenue at the 400 Block in Watertown was closed due to flooding. In addition, County Road 122 between County Road 123 and Highway 7 was closed due to flooding. |
| August 2009 | Heavy Rain | Watertown | - | An off duty NWS employee measured 2.44 inches of rainfall overnight. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Trees toppled on the north edge of town, with 4 to 6 inch branches down in the central part of Watertown. |
| June 2007 | Hail | Watertown | - | The Carver County News described one report of baseball size hail (2.75 inch), but this was unconfirmed. Hail damaged houses, vehicles, and area crops. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | A trained spotter downtown recorded a 62 MPH wind gust. A gust of 56 MPH was recorded at Watertown-Mayer High School just northwest of town. Large tree limbs were downed onto Westminster Avenue south of Madison Street. Another large limb was downed onto vehicles on Angel Avenue SW. The roof of a shed was blown off along Tacoma Avenue in Hollywood Township, three miles southwest of Watertown. |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Watertown | - | Three to four inches of rain covered roads and resulted in a number of basements with water. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Large tree limb down in street. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Watertown | - | Many homes and vehicles damaged. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Few trees toppled and large branches felled. Winds estimated. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Large tree blown down. Estimated windspeed. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Several large trees blown onto houses. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Large branches down. Estimated windspeed. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Two garages blown down. Estimated windspeed. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | Trees and power lines were blown down by strong thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2023 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Flash Flood | Watertown | - | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watertown | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazelton | 5.6 miles | 11 | |
| Mayer | 5.8 miles | 11 | |
| Maple | 5.9 miles | 12 | |
| Hollywood | 7.7 miles | 11 | |
| Waconia | 8.4 miles | 12 | |
| New Germany | 8.5 miles | 11 | |
| Coney Island | 8.8 miles | 12 | |
| Hydes Lake | 10.0 miles | 12 |
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 Watertown | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1755519 | 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 653835. 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.






