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Shaded-relief map of Chester, Minnesota: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
MINNESOTA · POLK COUNTY

Chester

97 people, 1,150 ft above sea level in Polk County.

1,150 ftElevation, city center
97People, 2024 estimate
36 sq miLand area
Clear 36°
Clear now Dew point 22° · SE 8 mph · high 33°
City of Chester River Interstate 2 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The Chester plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Chester

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 5:00 PM CST
RIGHT NOW Thief River Falls Regional Airport (KTVF) · 5:56 PM
Clear
36° Clear Feels like 30° · high of 33° near 6 PM
WindSE 8 mphno gusts
Humidity56%rising to 85% by morning
Pressure30.19 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 22° · Dry43° by Monday: more humid
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Rain
Wednesday50% chance · showers
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 100.01 in · 4 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Polk County
NWS Grand Forks and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 6:46 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 7:27 AM4:47 PM ↓
9 h 20 m of daylight, 3 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 27% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
14
GOODAir quality index · fine particles
Tomorrow: None, good. No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
3p
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
clear day
clear day
clear night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
mostly sunny
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
TEMPERATURE °F
33°
30°
47°
39°
52°
41°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
10
12
10
12
12
14
17
16
15
16
15
15
14
15
15
13
11
11
10
10
11
12
13
12
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 25 to 27° ↑ Humid air returns More humid: 42° by Tuesday

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 80° / 62°
SAT Nov. 14 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
33° 30°
0% rain — SSE 11 A
SUN Nov. 15 Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
47° 38°
0% rain — S 15, gusts 28 A
MON Nov. 16 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
52° 40°
0% rain — SSW 15, gusts 25 B
TUE Nov. 17 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
51° 41°
10% rain — SSE 10 B
WED Nov. 18 Chance of showers Chance of showers
50° 37°
50% rain up to 0.2″ S 8 C
THU Nov. 19 Mostly cloudy; cooler Mostly cloudy; cooler
41° 33°
20% rain — NW 7 C
FRI Nov. 20 Chance of showers Chance of showers
41° 34°
50% rain up to 0.5″ E 12 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Chester about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the open Pacific three days ago, and over the Canadian Prairies a day ago, about 2,490 miles back along its path. It came down from about 8,900 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. Near the ground the air came from British Columbia; at 10,000 feet, from the Pacific north of Hawaii. It feels dry all the same. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

MILE2
THE GROUND

What Chester stands on

Chester’s center stands about 1,150 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,140 ft to 1,270 ft, a difference of 130 ft: gently rolling country.

The section below crosses 4 rock units mapped at the surface.

Chester, cut in half from northwest to southeast

A section northwest to southeast, 24 miles through the town center
1,100 ft1,200 ft1,300 ft CHESTER1,150 ftLow point1,130 ftOklee1,140 ftHigh point of the line1,330 ft ← NWSE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 64×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.

Rock at the surface along the line

Biotite schist of graywacke protolith, and schist-rich migmatite

Biotite-schist, migmatite. Age: Neoarchean, 2.5 to 2.8 billion years old. About 9 mi of the line.

Mafic metavolcanic rocks

Metabasalt, greenstone. Age: Neoarchean, 2.5 to 2.8 billion years old. About 8 mi of the line.

Granitoid intrusion

Granitic. Age: Neoarchean, 2.5 to 2.8 billion years old. About 7 mi of the line.

Magnetic intrusions, undifferentiated

Plutonic. Age: Archean. About 0.8 mi of the line.

From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.

MILE3
THE WATER

Where Chester’s rain goes

A raindrop that lands in Chester reaches Hudson Bay by way of the Lost, the Clearwater, the Red Lake, the Red River of the North and the Nelson: about 1,080 river miles. Past the border it runs north through Canada to Hudson Bay.

THE WAY DOWN, TO SCALE
Chester≈ 1,080 mi · Hudson Bay
FROM THE CENTER OF CHESTER ≈ 1,080 mi to Hudson Bay Lost → Clearwater → Red Lake → Red River of the North → Nelson

Lake on the way: Lake Winnipeg.

400 miles of the trip are on the Nelson.

Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Chester; river miles along the main stem, rounded.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Chester on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Grand Forks ND · 61 MI 61 miles west Fargo ND · 82 MI 82 miles southwest St. Cloud MN · 175 MI 175 miles southeast Duluth MN · 185 MI 185 miles southeast
FORECASTCITY
Map of Chester, Minnesota. Explore the plate
MINNESOTA · POLK

Chester

97 people, 1,150 ft above sea level in Polk County.

1,150 ftElevation
97People
36 sq miLand
Clear 36°
ClearDew point 22°
1

Today in Chester

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now mostly clear night 33° 0%
9p partly cloudy night 32° 0%
12a mostly clear night 31° 0%
3a mostly clear night 31° 0%
6a mostly clear night 31° 0%
9a mostly sunny 34° 0%
Rain
NEXT RAINWednesday · 50%
→
Sat0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
30
33
A
Sun0%
Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
38
47
A
Mon0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
40
52
B
Tue10%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
41
51
B
Wed50%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
37
50
C
Thu20%
Mostly cloudy; cooler Mostly cloudy; cooler
33
41
C
Fri50%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
34
41
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
2

What Chester stands on

Chester’s center stands about 1,150 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,140 ft to 1,270 ft, a difference of 130 ft: gently rolling country.

Chester, northwest to southeast Chester1,150 ftHigh point1,330 ft ← NWSE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 122×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center1,150 ft
Within 3 miles1,140 to 1,270 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (130 ft of relief)
3

Where the rain goes

≈ 1,080 mito Hudson BayLost → Clearwater → Red Lake → Red River of the North → Nelson

A raindrop that lands in Chester reaches Hudson Bay by way of the Lost, the Clearwater, the Red Lake, the Red River of the North and the Nelson: about 1,080 river miles. Past the border it runs north through Canada to Hudson Bay.

Lake on the way: Lake Winnipeg.

400 miles of the trip are on the Nelson.