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Melstone, Montana

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Melstone census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59054. It stands on Lost Horse Creek. The Survey maps it on the Melstone quadrangle. 126 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,940 feet above sea level.

Melstone within Musselshell County

Population over time

2 figures

Melstone grew from 96 to 126 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
201096
2020126+30 (+31%)

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

4 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Melstone between 1999 and 2018, burning about 35,519 acres in total. 2 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/undetermined2
Natural2

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
24 July 1999Natural33,000 acresMiles City Field OfficeFISHEL CRK
20 July 2018Natural2,519 acresCharles M. Russell National Wildlife RefugeWAWA
4 March 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land OfficeHWY 12 MM200
27 October 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land Office2 MILES EAST OF MELSTONE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Musselshell County

Storms near this place

30 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Melstone in 30 storm reports between 1997 and 2022: 25 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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 2013Tornado (EF0)Melstone-A trained spotter reported a brief tornado about 1 mile north of Melstone; while the town of Melstone experienced outflow winds in excess of 60 mph with minor tree and structural damage. A survey team estimated the tornadic winds to be 65 to 85 mph. No damage was reported directly from the tornado as the tornado remained over open areas.
June 2008HailMelstone-Trees were stripped of their leaves.
September 2007HailMelstone-Wind gusts of 56 mph were also reported.
June 2007HailMelstone-Numerous windows were broken and crops flattened.
June 2007HailMelstone-Skylights and windows were broken on a house. Roof damage was also reported.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMelstone-Powerline down and crops destroyed
July 2001Flash FloodMelstone-3-4 feet of water running over the highway 12. Flooding lasted until 10 pm MDT.
July 2022HailMelstone-no account filed
July 2022HailMelstone-no account filed
July 2020HailMelstone-no account filed
July 2019HailMelstone-no account filed
August 2017HailMelstone-no account filed
May 2016HailMelstone-no account filed
May 2014HailMelstone-no account filed
May 2014HailMelstone-no account filed
June 2010HailMelstone-no account filed
August 2008HailMelstone-no account filed
June 2008HailMelstone-no account filed
May 2007HailMelstone-no account filed
June 2007HailMelstone-no account filed
June 2007HailMelstone-no account filed
June 2007HailMelstone-no account filed
July 2002HailMelstone-no account filed
June 2001HailMelstone-no account filed
July 2001HailMelstone-no account filed
July 2001HailMelstone-no account filed
July 2001HailMelstone-no account filed
September 2000Thunderstorm WindMelstone-no account filed
July 2000HailMelstone-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindMelstone-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Musselshell 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
Queens Point5.9 miles9
Absher (historical)6.6 miles9
Musselshell12.9 miles7
Delphia19.5 miles6
Kilby Butte Colony25.6 miles6
Fattig (historical)26.3 miles6
Gage28.9 miles6
Flatwillow Colony33.9 miles6

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 MelstoneAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q940301The 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 774093. 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.