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.
Population over time
2 figuresColstrip 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,214 | |
| 2020 | 2,096 | -118 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 6 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1954 USGS Hardin quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Hardin quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Hardin quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Colstrip East quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Lame Deer quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
8 since 2003Regional 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/undetermined | 3 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2003 | Natural | 80 acres | Eastern Land Office | not named |
| 5 September 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7.0 acres | Eastern Land Office | STOCKER |
| 4 August 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Eastern Land Office | WESTERN ENERGY |
| 25 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Eastern Land Office | BIG |
| 24 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Eastern Land Office | VICTOR |
| 24 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Eastern Land Office | ROMEO |
| 3 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Eastern Land Office | HWY39 MM18 |
| 26 July 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Eastern Land Office | COW |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 77 shownRegional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1998 | Wildfire | Colstrip | $200,000 | A wildfire which was believed to have been set by lightning burned 1850 acres on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | $1,000 | Some windows were damaged at a residence. |
| July 1998 | Hail | Colstrip | $1,000 | Golf ball sized hail broke several windows in a house. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Colstrip | - | 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 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | Wind gusts ahead of the thunderstorm resulted in large pine trees downed near the high school. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | An estimated wind gust of 80 mph was reported from the Town Pump gas station. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | Public reported estimated winds of 70-80 mph. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | No damage was reported. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Colstrip | - | Water and mud were over Highway 39 at mile marker 31. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | Several severe wind gusts over 60 mph estimated between 714 PM MST and 738 PM MST. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | 12 inch tree branches broken. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Golfball hail covering the ground for two miles |
| June 2006 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Mostly golf ball sized hail but a few grapefruit sized stones were seen. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Car windshield damaged |
| May 2005 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Penny size hail covered the ground. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | 12 inch diameter tree branch downed...crops flattened |
| June 2004 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Car hood dented, windshield broken, ash trees stripped |
| May 2001 | Hail | Colstrip | - | .75 inch hail reported by spotters |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Colstrip | - | 3 feet of water covered Olive Street |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust estimated by spotter. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust estimated by spotter. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Hail drifted 6-8 inches deep |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | 70 mph thunderstorm wind gust |
| June 2001 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Hail covered the ground and drifted. Several broken windows. |
| June 1999 | Hail | Colstrip | - | Spotter report of dime size hail. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| August 2024 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Colstrip | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hopsonville (historical) | 5.5 miles | 6 | |
| Castle Rock (historical) | 9.5 miles | 6 | |
| Lee (historical) | 12.4 miles | 6 | |
| Saints Rest (historical) | 13.6 miles | 7 | |
| Jimtown | 14.6 miles | 7 | |
| Signal Butte (historical) | 15.2 miles | 6 | |
| Wood Place | 15.4 miles | 8 | |
| Sabra (historical) | 17.5 miles | 8 |
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 Colstrip | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q959254 | The 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.




