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Sula, Montana

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Sula census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59871. It stands on Cameron Creek. The Survey maps it on the Sula quadrangle. 41 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,422 feet above sea level.

Sula within Ravalli County

On record in Sula

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Sula grew from 37 to 41 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
201037
202041+4 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 11 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

92 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 92 fires within 5 miles of Sula between 1992 and 2020, burning about 54,880 acres in total. 77 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
Natural77
Debris and open burning5
Recreation and ceremony3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Smoking1

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
8 September 1995Naturalunder an acreBitterroot National ForestSUSIE Q
22 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreBitterroot National ForestWARM SPRINGS
16 September 2011Naturalunder an acreBitterroot National ForestMEDICINE BEAR
15 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreBitterroot National ForestRC
14 September 2013Naturalunder an acreBitterroot National ForestCRAZY
9 August 2008Natural3.0 acresBitterroot National ForestELK POINT
8 August 2019Natural57 acresBitterroot National ForestLAWERENCE GULCH
7 August 1998Naturalunder an acreBitterroot National ForestCLOSE CALL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ravalli County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Sula: 2 occurrences, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Beryllium, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Portable Crusher No. 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Broken File ProspectBerylliumOccurrence
Unnamed Be OccBerylliumOccurrence1954

Every working recorded in Ravalli County

Storms near this place

23 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sula in 23 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 12 hail, 4 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 debris flow. 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
August 2025Debris FlowSula$10,000The Bitterroot National Forest has issued a safety alert for a debris flow across Forest Road 724 near the East Fork Trailhead. The debris flow occurred within the 2024 Johnson Wildfire burn scar after a short, intense storm dropped a radar-estimated 0.41 inches of rain in just 15 minutes, and around 0.51 inches in less than an hour.
July 2025Debris FlowSula$500Radar-estimated rainfall of 1.77 inches fell in one and a half hours and triggered a debris flow that covered the East Fork Road, east of Sula, at Mile-marker 4.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindSula-Thunderstorm outflow winds were observed, with a radar estimated time of 2:47 pm MDT. Minor structural damage to the Incident Command Post for the Johnson Fire but no injuries.
July 2022HailSula-A report of 1 diameter hail was received just east of Sula, MT.
August 2020HailSula-A strong thunderstorm dropped large hail on U.S. Highway 93 between Conner and Sula. Quarter to half dollar size hail was reported near Sula, MT.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindSula-A RAWS station east of Sula recorded 66 mph winds.
May 2017HailSula-Resident reported mostly nickel-sized hailstones, with a few quarter-sized hailstones mixed in. No evidence of damage to property was seen. Resident estimated wind speeds with the storm outflow at 40 to 50 mph. Frequent lightning was also reported.
October 2011Heavy RainSula-A spotter in Sula reported 1.00 inches of rain in 12 hours.
July 2010HailSula-The Sula Lookout station reported 50 mph wind gusts with nickle sized hail. This observation was taken at an elevation of 6191 feet.
July 2010HailSula-A trained spotter reported heavy rain with hail.
August 2009HailSula-A motorist traveling over Lost Trail Pass observed nickel and quarter sized hail while traveling over the Montana side of the pass.
July 2008HailSula-Fire lookout at 6629 feet reported 0.75 inch hail.
August 2004HailSula-no account filed
August 2004HailSula-no account filed
August 2003HailSula-no account filed
August 2003Flash FloodSula-no account filed
June 2003Thunderstorm WindSula-no account filed
June 2003HailSula-no account filed
August 2002HailSula-no account filed
July 2001Flash FloodSula-no account filed
July 2001Flash FloodSula-no account filed
July 2001Flash FloodSula-no account filed
August 2000WildfireSula-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ravalli 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
Medicine Hot Springs2.9 miles9
Conner10.0 miles8
Peaks and Pines Park12.6 miles10
Holtet Court16.4 miles17
Darby16.5 miles17
University Heights18.4 miles17
Gorus18.6 miles17
Como20.3 miles17

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 SulaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6135403The 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 791640. 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.