Knowlton, Montana

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Shirley-Ismay census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59336. The Survey maps it on the Knowlton quadrangle.

Knowlton within Custer County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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.

1953 USGS Miles City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
1957 USGS Miles City quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Miles City quadrangle1:250000
1969 USGS Knowlton quadrangle1:24000
1980 USGS Miles City quadrangle1:100000

Fires near this place

23 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 23 fires within 5 miles of Knowlton between 1992 and 2020, burning about 8,382 acres in total. 21 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
Natural	21
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1
Equipment and vehicle use	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
4 September 1994	Natural	under an acre	Miles City Field Office	WHITEKNOB
3 September 2009	Natural	11 acres	Miles City Field Office	HOGAN CREEK
31 August 2015	Natural	20 acres	Miles City Field Office	HOGAN
28 August 1995	Natural	1.0 acres	Miles City Field Office	DRY COULEE
22 August 2008	Natural	4,261 acres	Miles City Field Office	KNOWLTON COMPLEX
21 August 2008	Natural	2,626 acres	Miles City Field Office	DRGA
21 August 2008	Natural	93 acres	Miles City Field Office	ANDERSON
21 August 1996	Natural	750 acres	Miles City Field Office	WHITE KNOB

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Custer County

Storms near this place

20 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Knowlton in 20 storm reports between 2004 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 1 heavy rain, 1 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
May 2011	Flood	Knowlton	$1,100,000	Significant flooding occurred on creeks and streams across Custer County with numerous county roads flooded, closing roads and resulting in significant damage. At the height of the flooding, emergency only travel was advised due to the magnitude of the event. The Powder River near Locate rose above flood stage from May 10th through May 23rd. The river crested four times at 11.29 feet, 11.70 feet, 11.27 feet and 9.28 feet on the 10th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd respectively. In addition, Pumpkin Creek was reported to be flowing over Highway 59 southeast of Miles City. Pumpkin Creek had a record crest of 13.98 feet on May 20th and 21st. The Yellowstone River at Miles City went above flood stage from May 22nd through May 29th. The river crested at 14.74 feet on the 24th and 14.53 feet on the 29th. The Tongue River at Miles City rose above flood stage from May 11th through May 23rd and crested at a record 13.99 feet on May 21st. Damage estimates based on FEMA reviews and Individual Assistance approvals.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	Estimated gust by a spotter.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	A spotter reported baseball size hail that destroyed their windshield and a wind gust of 70 mph.
June 2015	Hail	Knowlton	-	A spotter reported baseball size hail that destroyed their windshield and a wind gust of 70 mph.
June 2012	Hail	Knowlton	-	Quarter size hail was accompanied by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 50 mph.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	A thunderstorm wind gust estimated at 60 mph was reported 9 miles east of Locate.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported 3 miles southeast of Knowlton.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported 17 miles southwest of Ismay.
June 2007	Heavy Rain	Knowlton	-	Rain from the event was reported to be 1.51 inches.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	Shed blown over and roof blown off barn
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	no account filed
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	no account filed
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	no account filed
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Knowlton	-	no account filed
June 2012	Hail	Knowlton	-	no account filed
July 2011	Hail	Knowlton	-	no account filed
August 2009	Hail	Knowlton	-	no account filed
July 2008	Hail	Knowlton	-	no account filed
June 2006	Hail	Knowlton	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Knowlton	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Custer 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Foundation (historical)	8.9 miles	8
Mizpah	11.7 miles	8
Oneill (historical)	13.9 miles	8
Kimball (historical)	18.2 miles	8
Ismay	18.8 miles	8
Shirley	31.2 miles	8
Beebe	32.4 miles	8
Bonfield	32.5 miles	8

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 773109. 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.