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.
Population over time
2 figuresWaubun 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 400 | |
| 2020 | 409 | +9 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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.
- 1954 USGS Bemidji quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS Bemidji quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Bemidji quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Waubun quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Lake Itasca quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
50 since 1992Regional 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/incendiarism | 28 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | SQUIRREL LAKE THREAT |
| 18 July 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 May 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 May 2007 | Natural | 400 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | SQUIRREL LAKE |
| 3 May 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 507 acres | Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District | KENT |
| 3 May 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 acres | Minnesota Agency | 3FARMER |
| 3 May 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 80 acres | Minnesota Agency | CRP |
| 21 May 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
42 since 1996Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2023 | Tornado (EF2) | Waubun | $56,000 | This 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 2010 | Flash Flood | Waubun | $5,000 | Several sections of township roads were washed out due to heavy rains and rapid runoff along the Mahnomen and Becker county line. |
| July 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Waubun | $5,000 | This 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 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waubun | $1,000 | Trees were blown down. |
| August 2016 | Hail | Waubun | $500 | Large hail and very strong winds caused considerable crop damage across western Popple Grove Township. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waubun | - | Report of numerous trees branches down. |
| June 2023 | Tornado (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 2023 | Tornado (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 2022 | Hail | Waubun | - | Brief quarter-sized hail, with strong winds. |
| May 2019 | Tornado (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 2019 | Tornado (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 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waubun | - | 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 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waubun | - | Two large branches were blown off an oak tree. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waubun | - | Numerous large trees were blown down near Waubun and in rural areas of Poplar Grove and Lake Grove townships. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waubun | - | 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 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Waubun | - | A tornado was seen over southern Rosedale Township. It appeared as a long thin rope. |
| June 2006 | Funnel Cloud | Waubun | - | Two funnel clouds were seen between Mahnomen and Waubun. |
| August 2004 | Hail | Waubun | - | The rear window of a police car was smashed and people in town reported dented siding. The ground was white with hail. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waubun | - | Large tree limbs were blown down. |
| August 2004 | Hail | Waubun | - | The hail shredded crops in the area for the third time of the summer. |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Waubun | - | Citywide flooding was reported. |
| August 2002 | Flash Flood | Waubun | - | County road 12 was flooded. |
| June 1998 | Flash Flood | Waubun | - | Heavy rains caused flooding on highway 113 near Waubun. |
| August 2020 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| September 2019 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| September 2019 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| September 2019 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Waubun | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Waubun | - | 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.
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 Waubun | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2227895 | 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 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.




