BlockBefore

Seeley Lake, Montana

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1999. It stands in the Seeley Lake-Blackfoot Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59868. It stands on Seeley Creek. The Survey maps it on the Seeley Lake East quadrangle. 1,682 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,019 feet above sea level.

Seeley Lake within Missoula County

On record in Seeley Lake

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

Seeley Lake grew from 1,659 to 1,682 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
20101,659
20201,682+23 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 14 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

476 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 476 fires within 5 miles of Seeley Lake between 1992 and 2020, burning about 106 acres in total. 136 started naturally. 4 were 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
Natural136
Missing data/not specified/undetermined103
Debris and open burning92
Recreation and ceremony76
Power generation/transmission/distribution28
Fireworks19
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Smoking4
Equipment and vehicle use4
Arson/incendiarism4
Other causes1

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
7 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreSouthwestern Land OfficeSOUTH HIGHLAND
7 September 2004Debris and open burningunder an acreSouthwestern Land Officenot named
7 September 1999Smokingunder an acreLolo National ForestBRUCE IN THE DUFF
7 September 1998Naturalunder an acreLolo National ForestPLACID LAKE ROAD
6 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreSouthwestern Land OfficeLOOPING DREW CREEK
6 September 1997Naturalunder an acreSouthwestern Land OfficeHORSETRAIL
6 September 1997Naturalunder an acreLolo National ForestBIG RICE
5 September 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouthwestern Land Officenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Missoula County

Storms near this place

21 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Seeley Lake in 21 storm reports between 1995 and 2018: 12 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 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
July 2017Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake$60,000Multiple trees of varying thicknesses were either blown over or snapped in the Lake Alva campground. One spruce tree larger than 20 inches in diameter fell lengthwise onto a camper, totaling the trailer but sparing an infant in a bassinet. Another camper was also damaged as a tree fell lengthwise onto it but no one was injured. Property damage of both campers was estimated to be sixty thousand dollars.
April 2018FloodSeeley Lake$15,000Increasing water levels in Seeley Lake, as well as a rising water table lead to flooding of 15 to 20 homes. Most of the flooding occurred on the southwest side of Seeley Lake near C Street where water had surrounded 10 to 15 homes. Several homes in the town of Seeley Lake also had groundwater-filled basements.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake$5,000The Missoula 911 dispatch reported multiple trees and power lines down on Whitetail Dr and Dolly Varden Dr.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-Several lodgepole pine trees were blown over and hail up to one inch were reported with this storm.
May 2018FloodSeeley Lake-Homes and buildings adjacent to Seeley Lake and the Clearwater River were impacted by flooding. Thirteen homes in the Seeley Lake region were under evacuation orders.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-Over 100 trees were blown down between 7 and 14 miles north of Seeley lake.
June 2011HailSeeley Lake-Hail was reported at Big Sky Lake.
June 2011HailSeeley Lake-The public measured 1.00 inch hail near Salmon Lake.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-Public reported an estimated wind gust to 60 mph.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-Estimated wind gusts to 60 mph blew down a large tree down onto the deck of the house and also knocked down powerlines.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-Many trees were blown down, some falling onto a cars and homes. A 100-year-old windmill was blown over. Winds were estimated at 60 mph.
August 1995HailSeeley Lake-Many trees were blown down, some falling onto a cars and homes. A 100-year-old windmill was blown over. Winds were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2004HailSeeley Lake-no account filed
July 2004HailSeeley Lake-no account filed
July 2004HailSeeley Lake-no account filed
September 2004Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-no account filed
June 2003Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-no account filed
May 1998HailSeeley Lake-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindSeeley Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Missoula 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
Clearwater13.6 miles14
Barite16.3 miles19
Sunset16.7 miles19
Greenough18.3 miles19
McNamara21.1 miles16
Potomac21.2 miles17
Twin Creeks22.1 miles16
Yreka23.4 miles19

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 Seeley LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q955887The 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 799011. 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.