Rapelje, Montana
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the North Stillwater census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59067. It stands on Mills Creek. The Survey maps it on the Rapelje quadrangle. 88 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,071 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRapelje fell from 110 to 88 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 110 | |
| 2020 | 88 | -22 (-20%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 14 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.
- 1892 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Rapelje quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1979 USGS Big Timber quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
3 since 2017Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Rapelje between 2017 and 2018, burning about 153 acres in total. None 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 | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 June 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Southern Land Office | RAPELJE AREA |
| 1 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 150 acres | Southern Land Office | HAILSTONE BASIN RD |
| 30 March 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Southern Land Office | MOLT-RAPELJE RD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
37 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rapelje in 37 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 22 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 2 flash 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 | Rapelje | $2,000,000 | Significant flooding occurred all across Stillwater County, including streams and creeks emerging from the Beartooth Foothills. This resulted in numerous road closures and significant damage in spots to rural roads. Specifically; Whitebird, Benbow, and the Stillwater River roads were closed. During the height of the flooding, a couple of families were stranded by the flood waters. A bridge was washed out on Whitebird Creek. Subsequent flooding on the Stillwater River was observed the May 24-25th. Damage estimates based on FEMA reviews and Individual Assistance approvals. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | $20,000 | Wind damage with large trees downed. Roof blown off. |
| June 2023 | Flash Flood | Rapelje | - | Law enforcement reported flooding near Rapelje. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Rapelje | - | Sixshooter Creek in Rapelje flooded up to a foot deep and 200 yards wide over Highway 306. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rapelje | - | Hail accumulated to around one inch on the ground. Some property damage was reported. |
| March 2014 | Flood | Rapelje | - | County officials and the Montana Department of Transportation reported that small stream and low land flooding occurred across the area. Water flowed over Highway 12 near Two Dot and Highway 191 between Harlowton and Judith Gap. Water also flowed across some of the roads along the Beartooth Foothills south of Reed Point and Columbus. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | A wind gust of 60 mph was estimated in Rapelje. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | An estimated thunderstorm wind gust of 61 mph was reported in Rapelje. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | Numerous tree branches were knocked down. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | Numerous windows were broken out in Rapelje from the hail and winds. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Rapelje | - | Numerous windows were broken out in Rapelje from the hail and winds. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | Winds just south of Rapelje gusted to 64 mph. |
| August 1999 | Hail | Rapelje | - | Dime size hail reported. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| September 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| May 2020 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Rapelje | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Rapelje | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Busteed | 5.4 miles | 14 | |
| Shorey (historical) | 11.1 miles | 11 | |
| Molt | 18.9 miles | 10 | |
| Craver | 20.1 miles | 14 | |
| Springtime | 20.1 miles | 14 | |
| Columbus | 23.1 miles | 14 | |
| Reed Point | 23.7 miles | 15 | |
| Park City | 29.4 miles | 10 |
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 Rapelje | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2131361 | 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 775560. 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.





