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Medora, North Dakota

6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the South Billings unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 58645. It stands on Railroad Creek. The Survey maps it on the Medora quadrangle. 121 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,267 feet above sea level.

Medora within Billings County

On record in Medora

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 8 records

Population over time

2 figures

Medora grew from 112 to 121 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
2010112
2020121+9 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 6 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

53 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Medora between 1992 and 2020, burning about 276 acres in total. 11 started naturally. 2 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
Natural11
Recreation and ceremony10
Debris and open burning8
Equipment and vehicle use6
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Smoking2
Arson/incendiarism2

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
28 September 2018Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreDakota Prairie National GrasslandsSULLY CREEK
26 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.2 acresTheodore Roosevelt National ParkRAILROAD RIP RAP
15 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresTheodore Roosevelt National ParkHWY 10
9 August 2011Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreTheodore Roosevelt National ParkMIX PIT
9 August 2010Naturalunder an acreTheodore Roosevelt National ParkLIGHTING 1
3 August 2003Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreDakota Prairie National GrasslandsCORRAL 7
3 August 2002Recreation and ceremony25 acresDakota Prairie National GrasslandsMEDORA CAMPGROUND
26 August 2007Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreDakota Prairie National GrasslandsOUCH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Billings County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Medora: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Scoria PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Scoria PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Billings County

Storms near this place

36 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Medora in 36 storm reports between 1996 and 2022: 24 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. The reports record 3 injuries. 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
June 1996HailMedora3 hurt, $25,000no account filed
May 2011FloodMedora$50,000See the event episode narrative for details.
July 2011Flash FloodMedora$25,000Up to four inches of very heavy rainfall resulted in the camp grounds at Medora being flash flooded.
June 2019HailMedora$15,000A roof was damaged on a home.
June 2006HailMedora$10,000Hail accompanied by measured 68 mph wind gust on a hand held anemometer. Damage to a ranch 4 miles south of Medora included the roof and windows and tree limbs down in the farm yard.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindMedora$1,500Multiple tree limbs down.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindMedora-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated by the public.
July 2009Tornado (EF0)Medora-A brief tornado touchdown was reported. No reports of damage or injuries were received.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindMedora-RAWS site near Painted Canyon visitor center.
July 2003HailMedora-Heavy rain reported with the storm.
July 2003HailMedora-Hail damaged numerous vehicles in and around the Medora area.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindMedora-Several tree's uprooted.
June 1998HailMedora-Deputy reported ground was white with hail.
August 1998LightningMedora-53 acres theodore roosevelt nat'l park by fire caused by lightning
July 1997Thunderstorm WindMedora-winds occurred 3 E Medora
July 2020HailMedora-no account filed
July 2020HailMedora-no account filed
September 2018HailMedora-no account filed
August 2017HailMedora-no account filed
August 2017HailMedora-no account filed
June 2016HailMedora-no account filed
August 2008HailMedora-no account filed
May 2007Thunderstorm WindMedora-no account filed
June 2006HailMedora-no account filed
August 2006HailMedora-no account filed
August 2006HailMedora-no account filed
May 2005HailMedora-no account filed
July 2003HailMedora-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindMedora-no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindMedora-no account filed
July 2001HailMedora-no account filed
July 2000HailMedora-no account filed
August 1999HailMedora-no account filed
August 1998HailMedora-no account filed
August 1998HailMedora-no account filed
July 1997HailMedora-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Billings 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
Scoria Point2.4 miles7
Sully Springs7.7 miles7
Fryburg12.1 miles7
Six Mile Corner18.3 miles7
Gorham19.9 miles8
Fairfield24.9 miles9

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 MedoraAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2018799The 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 1035000. 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.