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Columbia Falls, Montana

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Columbia Falls census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59912. It stands on Cedar Creek. The Survey maps it on the Columbia Falls South quadrangle. 5,308 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,087 feet above sea level.

Columbia Falls within Flathead County

On record in Columbia Falls

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Columbia Falls grew from 4,688 to 5,308 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
20104,688
20205,308+620 (+13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

134 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 134 fires within 5 miles of Columbia Falls between 1992 and 2020, burning about 106 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 1 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/undetermined58
Debris and open burning25
Recreation and ceremony16
Natural9
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking6
Fireworks4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Other causes2
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Arson/incendiarism1

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 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeTRAP ROAD
7 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeHIDEAWAY
3 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFlathead CountyHWY 206 / COLUMBIA MEADOWS DR-CF
28 September 2010Debris and open burningunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeTOFTUM LANE
24 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeSOUTH CEDER LAKE
22 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorthwestern Land Officenot named
22 September 1999Smokingunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeCEDAR CREEK
20 September 1994Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreFlathead National Forestnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Flathead 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 Columbia Falls: 3 producers, 1 plant. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Aluminum, Contained or Metal. 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
(Facility) Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. SmelterAluminum, Contained or MetalPlant1955
Art Weaver CrusherSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Blue Moon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Crushing Plant No.. 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Flathead County

Storms near this place

10 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Columbia Falls in 10 storm reports between 1996 and 2016: 4 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood. 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 2016FloodColumbia Falls$35,000Between 4 to 6 inches of rain fell within 24 hours causing Spoon and Duck lakes to spill out onto Lake Drive and North Fork Road, and ending up near the Blankenship Road intersection as culverts were unable to handle the extra runoff. Rabe Road also experienced flooding from water originating from the Tea Kettle Mountain area. A private sensor located east-northeast of the Tea Kettle North Mountain or about 3 miles northwest of Coram, measured 6.29 inches of rainfall. The flooding closed North Fork Rd and Rabe Rd which impacted 25 to 30 residents. At least fifteen structures including basements and shop garages were flooded. One unfinished garage saw water that rose to near the ceiling. A fire chief with the Blankenship Fire Department who lives just off of North Fork Road outside of Columbia Falls reported that over three thousand gallons of water flooded his finished basement during this event. On May 23rd, more intense rain developed just north of Columbia Falls resulting in Trumble Creek coming out of its banks. This placed water around seven homes, but did not cause much damage or prevent residents from access. Glacier National Park closed the Going-to-the-Sun-Road at the Apgar Loop Junction due to a culvert washout in the afternoon of May 23rd. Another reason why the culvert was overwhelmed was due to beaver dams breaking up higher in the drainage. At least two portions of the Forest Service road 895 past the Hungry Horse Dam were washed out on May 23rd including Beta Creek. Forest service road 316 from the 6.3 mile marker on North Fork Road to the Canyon Creek area also experienced several washouts.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindColumbia Falls$20,000A trained spotter estimated wind gusts up to 65 mph with trees blown down on to roads.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindColumbia Falls$15,000The Daily Inter Lake newspaper reported that a tree had fallen on a home on Kokanee Bend two miles southwest of Columbia Falls. The law enforcement scanner traffic indicated that the tree had cut the home in half trapping the people inside. They were uninjured and were eventually able to get out of the house.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindColumbia Falls$4,000A trained spotter reported strong gusty winds that brought down power lines and trees of unknown size. They also reported pea size hail.
May 2013FloodColumbia Falls-Farmer crops adjacent to the Flathead River between Evergreen and Columbia Falls were inundated with water.
August 2013HailColumbia Falls-A trained spotter reported nickel size hail southwest of Columbia Falls.
May 2007HailColumbia Falls-A member of the public reported nickel to quarter sized hail 2 miles west of Columbia Falls.
May 2007HailColumbia Falls-Columbia Falls Police called with a report that 0.75 inch diameter hail fell from the thunderstorm that passed through town.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindColumbia Falls-no account filed
July 1996HailColumbia Falls-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Flathead 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
Pine Park0.3 miles11
Big Sky Colonial Manor1.1 miles11
Lazy Day Court1.6 miles11
Conkelley2.8 miles12
Halfmoon3.3 miles12
La Salle5.3 miles11
Hungry Horse6.5 miles12
Martin City7.7 miles12

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 Columbia FallsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q649200The 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 806934. 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.