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Browning, Montana

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1968. It stands in the Blackfeet Reservation census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59417. It stands on Depot Creek. The Survey maps it on the Browning quadrangle. 1,018 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,377 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Browning within Glacier County

On record in Browning

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Browning grew from 1,016 to 1,018 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
20101,016
20201,018+2 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 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

1,260 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,260 fires within 5 miles of Browning between 1992 and 2020, burning about 28,055 acres in total. 35 started naturally. 67 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
Fireworks535
Missing data/not specified/undetermined210
Debris and open burning107
Misuse of fire by a minor89
Arson/incendiarism67
Recreation and ceremony67
Smoking55
Equipment and vehicle use40
Natural35
Other causes27
Railroad operations and maintenance21
Power generation/transmission/distribution7

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
9 September 2007Fireworksunder an acreBlackfeet AgencyGROUND FIRE
9 September 1994Smokingunder an acreBlackfeet AgencyMORMONCHRH
8 September 2017Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreBlackfeet AgencyRED HEAD
8 September 2009Smokingunder an acreBlackfeet AgencyCORNER GROCERY FIRE
8 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBlackfeet AgencyLITTLE BULL
8 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBlackfeet AgencyBLUE BERRY HILL
8 September 2006Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresBlackfeet AgencyONE ACRE
8 September 1996Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreBlackfeet AgencyGLACRHMS#2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Glacier County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Browning: 4 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Glacier County

Storms near this place

22 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Browning in 22 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 13 hail, 5 heavy rain, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud. 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
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBrowning-Mesonet station MTBWG Browning measured a 61 mph wind gust.
June 2025HailBrowning-Hail up to walnut size was reported.
June 2025HailBrowning-Browning BIA reported large hail. Location is estimated.
June 2022Heavy RainBrowning-Browning Raws bgrm8.
June 2022Heavy RainBrowning-Bgrm8 Browning raws.
July 2022HailBrowning-Public reports via social media of 1.5 inch hail. Multiple reports of broken windows in the city of Browning.
August 2014Heavy RainBrowning-Heavy rain, measuring 1.99 inches storm total, was reported.
June 2014Heavy RainBrowning-Heavy rain of about 1.59 inches since midnight was reported at the Browning RAWS.
June 2013HailBrowning-Severe hail measuring 1.75 inches (approximately golf ball sized) was reported in Browning, MT.
June 2013HailBrowning-Severe hail measuring 1.75 inches (approximately golf ball sized) was reported 1 mile S of Browning, MT.
June 2013HailBrowning-Severe hail measuring 1.00 inches (approximately quarter sized) was reported 7 miles NNE of Browning, MT.
June 2013Heavy RainBrowning-Heavy rain of about 4 inches in 2 hours reported 8 mi W of Browning, MT.
June 2012HailBrowning-Hail measuring 1.75 inches was reported in Browning.
July 2010Funnel CloudBrowning-A funnel cloud was observed by law enforcement personnel at Browning 22SE. It lasted a minute or two.
July 2010HailBrowning-A thunderstorm dropped 1.75 inch diameter hail at Browning. The hail shattered the windshield of a police cruiser.
July 2010HailBrowning-A thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Browning 1S. Hail drifts one foot deep were reported.
July 2010HailBrowning-A thunderstorm dropped 1.5 inch diameter hail at Browning 7NNE.
July 2009Funnel CloudBrowning-A funnel cloud was reported by law enforcement at Browning 10E.
July 2009HailBrowning-A severe thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Browning 10E.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindBrowning-A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust between 70 and 80 mph near Browning. Numerous tepees and trailers were over turned at the camp ground.
June 2006HailBrowning-no account filed
August 2005HailBrowning-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Glacier 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
South Browning0.7 miles9
North Browning0.9 miles9
Durham6.1 miles9
Starr School7.1 miles9
Blackfoot7.4 miles9
Star10.6 miles9
East Glacier Park Village13.5 miles11
East Glacier Park13.5 miles11

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 BrowningAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q964747The 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 802063. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.