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Colstrip, Montana

6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Rosebud census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59327. The Survey maps it on the Colstrip East quadrangle. 2,096 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,222 feet above sea level.

Colstrip within Rosebud County

Population over time

2 figures

Colstrip fell from 2,214 to 2,096 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
20102,214
20202,096-118 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 6 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

8 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Colstrip between 2003 and 2018, burning about 89 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Natural3
Equipment and vehicle use1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
8 September 2003Natural80 acresEastern Land Officenot named
5 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distribution7.0 acresEastern Land OfficeSTOCKER
4 August 2018Naturalunder an acreEastern Land OfficeWESTERN ENERGY
25 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreEastern Land OfficeBIG
24 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreEastern Land OfficeVICTOR
24 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreEastern Land OfficeROMEO
3 July 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreEastern Land OfficeHWY39 MM18
26 July 2018Naturalunder an acreEastern Land OfficeCOW

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Rosebud County

Storms near this place

60 of 77 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colstrip in 77 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 57 hail, 17 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 wildfire. 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
July 1998WildfireColstrip$200,000A wildfire which was believed to have been set by lightning burned 1850 acres on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.
August 1998Thunderstorm WindColstrip$1,000Some windows were damaged at a residence.
July 1998HailColstrip$1,000Golf ball sized hail broke several windows in a house.
June 2016HailColstrip-Hail size ranged from pea size on the south end of town to ping pong ball size on the north end. Highway 39 had hail outside the ruts about 6-10 inches deep. Reports indicate not many broken windows but holes in siding were more prevalent.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindColstrip-Wind gusts ahead of the thunderstorm resulted in large pine trees downed near the high school.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindColstrip-An estimated wind gust of 80 mph was reported from the Town Pump gas station.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindColstrip-Public reported estimated winds of 70-80 mph.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindColstrip-No damage was reported.
June 2007Flash FloodColstrip-Water and mud were over Highway 39 at mile marker 31.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindColstrip-Several severe wind gusts over 60 mph estimated between 714 PM MST and 738 PM MST.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindColstrip-12 inch tree branches broken.
June 2006HailColstrip-Golfball hail covering the ground for two miles
June 2006HailColstrip-Mostly golf ball sized hail but a few grapefruit sized stones were seen.
June 2006HailColstrip-Car windshield damaged
May 2005HailColstrip-Penny size hail covered the ground.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindColstrip-12 inch diameter tree branch downed...crops flattened
June 2004HailColstrip-Car hood dented, windshield broken, ash trees stripped
May 2001HailColstrip-.75 inch hail reported by spotters
June 2001Flash FloodColstrip-3 feet of water covered Olive Street
July 2001Thunderstorm WindColstrip-60 mph thunderstorm wind gust estimated by spotter.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindColstrip-60 mph thunderstorm wind gust estimated by spotter.
June 2001HailColstrip-Hail drifted 6-8 inches deep
April 2001Thunderstorm WindColstrip-70 mph thunderstorm wind gust
June 2001HailColstrip-Hail covered the ground and drifted. Several broken windows.
June 1999HailColstrip-Spotter report of dime size hail.
June 2024HailColstrip-no account filed
August 2024HailColstrip-no account filed
July 2022HailColstrip-no account filed
May 2018HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2016HailColstrip-no account filed
July 2016HailColstrip-no account filed
July 2016HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2015HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2015HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2015HailColstrip-no account filed
May 2014HailColstrip-no account filed
May 2013HailColstrip-no account filed
July 2011HailColstrip-no account filed
May 2007HailColstrip-no account filed
May 2007Thunderstorm WindColstrip-no account filed
May 2007HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2006HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2006Thunderstorm WindColstrip-no account filed
June 2006HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2006HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2006HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2005HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2005HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2004HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2004HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2004HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2004HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2004HailColstrip-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindColstrip-no account filed
June 2002HailColstrip-no account filed
July 2002HailColstrip-no account filed
July 2002HailColstrip-no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindColstrip-no account filed
June 2001HailColstrip-no account filed
July 2001HailColstrip-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rosebud 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
Hopsonville (historical)5.5 miles6
Castle Rock (historical)9.5 miles6
Lee (historical)12.4 miles6
Saints Rest (historical)13.6 miles7
Jimtown14.6 miles7
Signal Butte (historical)15.2 miles6
Wood Place15.4 miles8
Sabra (historical)17.5 miles8

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 ColstripAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q959254The 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 770042. 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.