Discover the Absolute Hottest Place in Minnesota

Minnesota is a pretty cold state, being at the top of the United States and bordering Canada. It experiences average highs in the 20s during the winter and the 80s during the summer. But did you know that there’s one place in Minnesota that’s half a degree hotter than the entire rest of the state? That’s right, I’m talking about Steen, MN.

Half a Degree Hotter Than All Of Minnesota?

When it comes to the second and third-hottest places in Minnesota — Houston, and Hokah — their average max temperatures are only 0.01 degrees apart. The same is true for the third- and fourth-hottest, Hokah and La Crescent. In fact, most of the averages on the list are no more than a tenth of a degree apart. But Steen is 0.44 degrees hotter than the second-place city. 

So, what makes Steen so hot? Well, there’s no clear-cut answer. But we do know that the whole state seems to be getting hotter. In fact, June of 2021 was the second hottest on record for Minnesota. It could be due to drought because drier ground is easier to heat than wet ground. It could also just have been a sunnier month that year than it had been in a while.

But we can expect this pattern to continue. NOAA predicts that the state should expect to have double or even triple as many 90-degree or higher days in the next 25 years.

The Hottest Spot in the State: Steen

Steen is a city in southwest Minnesota. It’s on the state border line in the very bottom left corner, so it is adjacent to Iowa and South Dakota. It has 0.42 square miles of land and a population of 208. Its land area was defined in 1888 and named for two Norwegian brothers — John P. Steen and Ole P. Steen. It wasn’t until 54 years after the town was platted that it became incorporated.

In its early days, the city was a station on the Illinois Central Railroad. It connected Sioux Falls with Chicago. When the brothers founded the area, it was originally called Virginia before the name was changed to Steen to honor the brothers. They settled there and homesteaded the land. 

There was a post office in Steen in 1888, and it was active until 2011. The city also had a school, but it closed in the late 1950s. There were two churches in the area: the German Evangelical and German Lutheran. Today, The Reformed Church of Steen is the only one in the city. 

Despite having so few buildings and no post office, the town of Steen is active and well-loved by its residents. On the city’s website, they note that there are several local businesses and active softball leagues that play during the summer.

There is also at least one park including a basketball court and a playground with swings and other equipment.

Rock City

Steen is in the town of Rock City and is one of its eight cities. The entire county is relatively small and has a population of just 9,704. It gets its name from the Rock River, a river that flows through southwest Minnesota through northwestern Iowa. The river gets its name from a rocky outcrop that is 3 miles north of the county seat of Luverne. It’s an outcrop made of quartzite and can be found by the river inside the Blue Mounds State Park.

Rock City is one of only four counties in the state without a natural lake. From 1938 to 2014 there was a manmade lake that was created by putting a small dam on Blue Mounds Creek. The lake was in Blue Mounds State Park until it drained due to rain and flood damage. 

Blue Mounds State Park is in Rock County and is home to what’s left of one of the state’s largest prairies. An American bison herd lives in the park, varying in size from around 65 animals in the winter to nearly 100 in the summer. The bison herd is originally from the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska. Three of the bison were brought from the refuge in 1961 and expanded the herd over time.

In 2012, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources teamed up with the Minnesota Zoo, agreeing to develop a Minnesota Bison Conservation Herd. They introduced a bull with Yellowstone genetics to the herd in 2017. The bull was introduced to diversify the gene pool to make the herd healthier. 

Where is Houston, Minnesota Located on a Map?

Houston is located in Houston County, Minnesota. It had a population of 997 as of the 2020 census. Houston has several popular attractions, including the International Owl Center, Outback Ranch, and the Root River State Trail.

Here it is on a map: