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Waubun, Minnesota

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Waubun City. It lies in ZIP code area 56589. The Survey maps it on the Waubun quadrangle. 409 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,240 feet above sea level.

Waubun within Mahnomen County

Population over time

2 figures

Waubun grew from 400 to 409 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.

YearPeople Change
2010400
2020409+9 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

50 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 50 fires within 5 miles of Waubun between 1992 and 2020, burning about 8,235 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 28 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/incendiarism28
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Debris and open burning5
Equipment and vehicle use3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Recreation and ceremony1
Natural1

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
24 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined25 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictSQUIRREL LAKE THREAT
18 July 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 May 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined280 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 May 2007Natural400 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictSQUIRREL LAKE
3 May 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined507 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictKENT
3 May 2002Arson/incendiarism290 acresMinnesota Agency3FARMER
3 May 1996Arson/incendiarism80 acresMinnesota AgencyCRP
21 May 2016Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mahnomen County

Storms near this place

42 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waubun in 42 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 21 hail, 9 tornado, 7 thunderstorm wind, 4 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
June 2023Tornado (EF2)Waubun$56,000This tornado touched down south of Mahnomen at 4:15 PM. The highest damage it caused was rated as an EF-2. Among the damage it caused as it continued across its 6 mile path was trees snapped and uprooted (both hard and soft wood), metal garage slid off its foundation and collapsed, crop damage, Quonset caved in on one side, roofing blown off homes, broken power line poles, and lifting fuel tankers full of 250 gallons of fuel and throwing them at a barn. Damage dollar amounts are estimated.
May 2010Flash FloodWaubun$5,000Several sections of township roads were washed out due to heavy rains and rapid runoff along the Mahnomen and Becker county line.
July 2008Tornado (EF0)Waubun$5,000This tornado was observed moving across highway 59 and lifting about 4 miles north-northeast of Waubun. The tornado appeared to pass just south of the Mahnomen County airport.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindWaubun$1,000Trees were blown down.
August 2016HailWaubun$500Large hail and very strong winds caused considerable crop damage across western Popple Grove Township.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Report of numerous trees branches down.
June 2023Tornado (EFU)Waubun-Brief spin up was reported in an open field which mitigated any damage. Therefore, the rating of EF-U has been assigned with estimated path width and length.
June 2023Tornado (EFU)Waubun-Spotter called with reports of a tornado with intermittent touchdown near Waubun, MN. It occurred in open fields, which mitigated any damage. Therefore, the rating of EF-U has been assigned with an estimated path width and length.
August 2022HailWaubun-Brief quarter-sized hail, with strong winds.
May 2019Tornado (EF0)Waubun-This tornado began in Norman County at 1822 CST. This was the first of twin tornadoes which were viewed and photographed from residents near Flom and Waubun. This tornado only tracked for a short distance in Norman County, before it continued into Mahnomen County. The tornado broke large tree branches in several shelterbelts along its path and appears to have caused a peak wind of 73 mph at both the Mahnomen airport and nearby MNDOT RWIS mesonet sensors as it dissipated. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.
May 2019Tornado (EF1)Waubun-This was the second of twin tornadoes in southwest Mahnomen County. This tornado touched down after the first one and tracked nearly due east. The tornado snapped a large spruce tree and several poplar trees at one farmstead. Peak winds were estimated at 95 mph.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Several large tree branches were blown down, partially blocking highway 59. Steel signs were also blown over. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Two large branches were blown off an oak tree.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Numerous large trees were blown down near Waubun and in rural areas of Poplar Grove and Lake Grove townships.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Very strong winds blew for several minutes across portions of Lake Grove and Rosedale townships. Large branches of four to six inches in diameter or greater were broken down in various locations east of the Mahnomen County Airport. The winds sounded like a freight train.
July 2008Tornado (EF0)Waubun-A tornado was seen over southern Rosedale Township. It appeared as a long thin rope.
June 2006Funnel CloudWaubun-Two funnel clouds were seen between Mahnomen and Waubun.
August 2004HailWaubun-The rear window of a police car was smashed and people in town reported dented siding. The ground was white with hail.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Large tree limbs were blown down.
August 2004HailWaubun-The hail shredded crops in the area for the third time of the summer.
June 2002Flash FloodWaubun-Citywide flooding was reported.
August 2002Flash FloodWaubun-County road 12 was flooded.
June 1998Flash FloodWaubun-Heavy rains caused flooding on highway 113 near Waubun.
August 2020HailWaubun-no account filed
September 2019HailWaubun-no account filed
September 2019HailWaubun-no account filed
September 2019HailWaubun-no account filed
August 2015HailWaubun-no account filed
July 2006HailWaubun-no account filed
June 2002HailWaubun-no account filed
June 2002HailWaubun-no account filed
July 2002HailWaubun-no account filed
August 2002HailWaubun-no account filed
August 2002HailWaubun-no account filed
September 2002HailWaubun-no account filed
September 2000HailWaubun-no account filed
July 2000HailWaubun-no account filed
June 1999HailWaubun-no account filed
June 1999HailWaubun-no account filed
July 1999Tornado (F0)Waubun-no account filed
July 1998Tornado (F0)Waubun-no account filed
July 1996HailWaubun-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Mahnomen 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
Mahnomen9.4 miles9
Beaulieu12.9 miles9
Naytahwaush17.5 miles10
Bejou18.1 miles9
Mahkonce19.8 miles9
Pine Bend25.1 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 WaubunAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2227895The 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 653849. 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.