Scobey, Montana
5 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Scobey census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59263. The Survey maps it on the Scobey quadrangle. 999 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,467 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Scobey
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
Daniels County Courthouselisted 1995- Mansfield A. Daniels Houselisted 1997
- LaPierre Barnlisted 2005
Population over time
2 figuresScobey fell from 1,017 to 999 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 | 1,017 | |
| 2020 | 999 | -18 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 5 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 Wolf Point quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Wolf Point quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Scobey quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Scobey quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
6 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Scobey between 1994 and 2020, burning about 953 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 | 5 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Daniels County | FDH-MTLG37-327 |
| 23 August 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 acres | Northeastern Land Office | TOWER HILL |
| 16 August 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
| 1 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
| 25 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 acres | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
| 21 April 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 acres | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Scobey: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Buttes Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Leonard Bud Jensen | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
60 of 81 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Scobey in 81 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 52 hail, 20 thunderstorm wind, 4 heavy rain, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | $25,000 | Thunderrstorm winds nicking southeast Daniels County did damage to a farm, destorying a barn, two grain bins and a corral. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | $10,000 | Daniels County dispatch relayed a public report of a roof blown off a new addition to a home from thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | $6,000 | Daniel County dispatch relayed a public report of 6 power poles blown down from thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | $6,000 | A severe thunderstorm moved into Scobey while a concert was going on at the fair grounds. Loud speakers and equipment were blown off of the stage. Power was knocked out in parts of Scobey and the local radio station was off of the air. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Scobey | - | Ping pong ball size hail was reported with a photo via social media. |
| August 2024 | Hail | Scobey | - | A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of quarters. |
| August 2024 | Hail | Scobey | - | Public reported hail up to the size of ping pong balls. |
| June 2023 | Heavy Rain | Scobey | - | A trained spotter reported 2.85 inches of rain falling during a 2 hour period. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Scobey | - | The public reported hail up to the size of quarters. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Public reported, via Facebook, 65mph winds. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Scobey | - | Public reported plentiful hail up to the size of ping pong balls, lasting for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Trained spotter reported newly installed siding blown off of a house. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Public reported 60 mph wind gusts. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Scobey | - | Public reported quarter size hail. |
| July 2015 | Hail | Scobey | - | Trained spotter reported quarter-sized hail with heavy rain. |
| September 2014 | Hail | Scobey | - | Trained spotter reported half dollar-sized hail. |
| September 2014 | Hail | Scobey | - | Trained spotter reported quarter- to half dollar-sized hail covering the ground. |
| September 2014 | Hail | Scobey | - | Trained spotter reported quarter-sized hail. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Scobey | - | Cooperative observer reported quarter-sized hail. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Scobey | - | Spotter reported quarter-sized hail stones and estimated 50 mph winds gusts. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Scobey | - | Spotter estimated quarter-sized hail stones. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Scobey | - | Public estimated mostly dime-sized hail with some quarter-sized stones and reported heavy rain with water flowing down the streets. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Scobey | - | Public estimated quarter-sized hail and water flowing down the streets. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Scobey | - | Spotter reported dime-sized hail stones. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Scobey | - | Spotter reports quarter-sized hail stones. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Scobey | - | Spotter reported ping pong ball-sized hail stones. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Spotter estimated 60 mph winds. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Strong winds tore some siding from a house. |
| June 2011 | Flash Flood | Scobey | - | At 1730 MST, French Lane (2 miles north of Scobey) was under water in five places. Highway 248 near Four Buttes had water over the road. The middle fork of the Poplar River near Scobey was flooding. Since 1330 MST, two inches (2.00) of rain fell. At 1754 MST, four miles northwest of Scobey, numerous creeks were flooding or running full. Also, several roads were flooding while coulees were full. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Daniels County Dispatch reported 60 mph winds and heavy rain. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Scobey | - | Very large hail of 3 to 4 inches were reported by the public. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Scobey | - | At 1600 MST 10 miles southeast of Scobey spotter observed 1 inch hail and heavy rain which damaged crop. At 1605 MST 8 miles south-southeast of Scobey 0.75 hail fell. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Spotter reported power poles downed; roofs were lifted off of small sheds as well. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Person also reported hail with this storm. |
| July 2009 | Heavy Rain | Scobey | - | Public reported 0.95 inches of rain with this storm. |
| July 2009 | Hail | Scobey | - | Hail covered the ground up to two inches deep. Gardens wiped out in town with leaves and branches knocked down. |
| July 2009 | Hail | Scobey | - | One inch of rain also fell. |
| August 2009 | Hail | Scobey | - | Dime and Nickel size hail with heavy rain. |
| August 2009 | Heavy Rain | Scobey | - | Rainfall of 1.5 inches accompanied hail with this thunderstorm. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Pea size hail with estimated 50 to 60 mph wind gust, moving deck furniture. |
| June 2008 | Heavy Rain | Scobey | - | One hour rainfall was measured at 2.25 inches. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Scobey | - | The hail ranged from dime to nickel size and covered the ground. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Scobey | - | Rainfall was measured at 2.10 inches. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | Pea size hail and heavy rain also occurred. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | The strong wind tore off an awning, and tore off a 20 by 12 foot deck from a house and was broken apart. A grain bin was destroyed and wound up in a field a few hundred yards from the house. |
| July 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Scobey | - | Brief tornado occurred south of Scobey. |
| July 1998 | Flash Flood | Scobey | - | Rain falling at the rate of three inches an hour caused the West Fork of the Poplar River to overflow its banks. A wagon train on its way to Wolf Point for the Wild Horse Stampede became bogged down. Water levels reached as high as the wagon's axles. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Scobey | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Scobey | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madoc | 7.3 miles | 5 | |
| Four Buttes | 9.9 miles | 5 | |
| Julian (historical) | 10.9 miles | 5 | |
| Flaxville | 13.2 miles | 5 | |
| Kahle (historical) | 14.9 miles | 5 | |
| Whitetail | 15.4 miles | 5 | |
| Navajo | 19.1 miles | 5 | |
| Peerless | 21.8 miles | 5 |
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 Scobey | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q687728 | 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 776297. 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.



