About Worthington
|
Location
Worthington
sits in SW Minnesota at a high point between the Missouri and Mississippi
basins. The area is good agricultural land with light rolling hills.
Worthington is on State Highways 59-60 and I-90.
|
Distance to: |
Miles away |
| Mpls-St Paul |
175 |
| Omaha, NE |
187 |
| Sioux City, IA |
90 |
| Sioux Falls, SD |
57 |
 |
 |
|
A Proud Past
The first settlers to Worthington were attracted by the
prospect of bountiful harvests from the fertile prairies and the beautiful
lake. It was transportation that was responsible for the founding of the
city more than 130 years ago, with the coming of the railroad.
The place was originally called Okabena Station by the Chicago
Northwestern railroad which ran from Mpls-St. Paul southwest to Omaha, NE.
Okabena Station was a convenient location for them to get water to replenish their
steam engines because of the proximity of Lake Okabena to the tracks.
The name, Worthington, was later selected to
honor the family of the wife of Dr. A.P. Miller, one of the original members
of the community. Among the first settlers were those brought here by the
National Colony Company of Toledo, Ohio. This colony believed in abstinence
from alcohol and wanted a settlement of other families who shared their
strict moral standards. The National Colony Company ran advertisements in
eastern publications to attract settlers.
See the advertisement here |
Population Trends
Population of Worthington has remained fairly stable since the 1960 census.
| |
|
Large |
|
Largest |
|
Large Growth |
|
| |
1875 |
1880 | 1885 |
1890 |
1895 | 1900 |
1905 | 1910 |
1920 | 1930 |
1940 | 1950 |
1960 | 1970 |
1980 | 1990 |
2000 |
| Population | 4191 |
6362 |
9973 |
1,1644 |
1,9185 |
2,3866 |
2,2767 |
2,385 | 3,481 |
3,878 | 5,918 |
7,923 | 9,015 |
9,916 | 10,243 |
9,977 | 11,283 |
| # Change | |
217 |
361 |
167 |
754 |
468 |
-110 |
109 | 1,096 |
397 |
2,040 | 2,005 |
1,092 |
901 | 327 |
-266 |
1,306 |
| % Change |
|
51.8% |
56.8% |
16.8% |
64.8% |
24.4% |
-4.6 |
4.8% |
46.0 % |
11.4% |
52.6% |
33.9% |
13.8% |
10.0% |
3.3% |
-2.6% |
13.1% |
|
1
AP Rose,
"Illustrated History of Nobles County Minnesota", (Worthington,
MN, Northern History Publishing Company, 1908 ) 89
2 IBID
106
3 IBID
112
4 IBID
113
5 IBID
116
6 IBID
119
7 IBID 153
|
Weather Patterns / Environment
The area has frequent weather changes from day to day or from week to
week as the locality is visited by the different air masses. Cold air masses
arrive from the interior of Canada, cool, dry air masses arrive from the
northern Pacific, warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, or hot dry air
from the southwest.
Temperatures fluctuate frequently as cold air masses move in very rapidly.
During the late fall and winter, cold fronts accompanied by strong, gusty
winds drop temperatures by 20 to 30 degrees in a 24-hour period. Severe
cold spells usually last only a few days. The winter months of December
through February have experienced cold spells with average temperatures
under 8 degrees and more than 60 consecutive days below 32 degrees.
Temperatures of 100 degrees and above occur about every three years,
and will most likely happen in July. Summer nights are usually comfortable
with temperatures below 70 degrees.
Rainfall is heavier during the spring and summer with lighter amounts
in winter. Nearly 64 percent of the normal yearly precipitation falls during
the growing season of April through August.
One or two heavy snows fall each winter. Eight to 12 inches of snow
may fall in 24 hours. There have been a few snows in excess of 16 inches
and almost 30 inches have fallen during a severe winter storm. Strong winds
often cause drifting snow and blizzard conditions may block highways for
a day or so.
Southerly winds prevail from late spring to early fall with northwest
winds the remainder of the year. Strong winds of 70 mph with gusts to 90
mph have occurred.
Thunderstorms are frequent during the late spring and summer with June
and July the most active months. The thunderstorms usually occur during
the late afternoon and evening with a secondary peak of activity between
2 and 5 in the morning. Some of the most severe thunderstorms with damaging
winds, hail and an occasional tornado, occur most frequently in June.
[This text summary is based upon "The Weather Almanac", 5th Edition,
R-551-69w, © Gales Research article on Sioux Falls, SD, a sister city
and modified for Worthington]
| Month |
Worthington
Temperatures |
| Means |
Extremes |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| JAN |
20.6 |
2.0 |
11.3 |
53 |
58 |
10 |
-27 |
70 |
19 |
| FEB |
26.5 |
7.6 |
17.1 |
65 |
58 |
24 |
-23 |
62 |
28 |
| MAR |
35.5 |
16.9 |
26.2 |
81 |
68 |
31 |
-23 |
62 |
1 |
| APR |
54.3 |
33.1 |
43.7 |
89+ |
62 |
26 |
9 |
54 |
3 |
| MAY |
68.4 |
45.2 |
56.8 |
98 |
67 |
26 |
19 |
67 |
3 |
| JUN |
77.6 |
55.6 |
66.6 |
99 |
56 |
14 |
37+ |
69 |
3 |
| JUL |
82.7 |
60.6 |
71.7 |
100+ |
66 |
11 |
43 |
67 |
4 |
| AUG |
80.6 |
58.4 |
69.5 |
100 |
65 |
14 |
40+ |
65 |
29 |
| SEP |
69.9 |
48.2 |
59.1 |
94 |
55 |
16 |
28 |
65 |
26 |
| OCT |
59.6 |
37.6 |
48.6 |
87+ |
63 |
6 |
15 |
67 |
28 |
| NOV |
41.6 |
22.8 |
32.2 |
71 |
68 |
1 |
-10 |
64 |
30 |
| DEC |
27.2 |
10.7 |
19.0 |
59 |
62 |
2 |
-22 |
55 |
19 |
| YEAR |
53.7 |
33.2 |
43.5 |
100+ |
65 |
14 |
-27 |
70 |
19 |
[This table weather data is based upon "Climates of the States", Volume
1, R-551.6973c, © 1980 Gale Research Company ]
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Historical Temperature Averages
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graph provided by Weather Underground
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