BlockBefore

Moorcroft, Wyoming

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Moorcroft census division. It lies in ZIP code area 82721. The Survey maps it on the Moorcroft quadrangle. 946 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,226 feet above sea level.

Moorcroft within Crook County

Population over time

2 figures

Moorcroft fell from 1,009 to 946 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
20101,009
2020946-63 (-6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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

25 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Moorcroft between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,974 acres in total. 9 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/undetermined11
Natural9
Debris and open burning2
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresCrook CountyROBINSON ROAD GRASS FIRE
4 August 2009Natural1,933 acresCrook CountyWINDMILL DRAW
26 August 2015Natural13 acresWyoming State ForestryADAMS ROAD
13 August 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresWyoming State Forestrynot named
12 August 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWyoming State Forestrynot named
9 July 2018Natural1.0 acresCrook CountyALTAFFER
4 July 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWyoming State Forestrynot named
4 July 2006Natural1.0 acresWyoming State Forestrynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Crook County

Storms near this place

60 of 73 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Moorcroft in 73 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 45 hail, 19 thunderstorm wind, 5 flood, 2 lightning. 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 2010HailMoorcroft$800,000Wind-driven large hail broke windows and damaged siding and roofs of houses in Moorcroft. The hail also broke windshields and dented vehicles.
June 2012HailMoorcroft$600,000Large hail caused automobile and building damage in Moorcroft.
July 2001LightningMoorcroft$250,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft$200,000Strong winds downed branches, trees, and a few power poles; heavily damaged or destroyed small structures; and ripped the roof off a mobile home.
June 2014HailMoorcroft$150,000Some minor property damage occurred in town.
July 2011HailMoorcroft$100,000no account filed
March 2004Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft$50,000no account filed
August 1999HailMoorcroft$20,000Eighty houses had hail damage--mostly broken windows and damaged siding. Two police vehicles had moderate hail damage and another was totaled by hail.
June 2012HailMoorcroft$20,000no account filed
May 2009HailMoorcroft$20,000no account filed
June 2015Flash FloodMoorcroft$5,000Two to three feet of water was reported over Wind Creek Road. The road was washed out in eight places.
July 2013HailMoorcroft$5,000Hail accumulated four to six inches deep and damaged house siding and a camper.
April 2007Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft$5,000Strong winds blew the roof off a garage. Winds were estimated around 60 mph.
July 2017FloodMoorcroft$1,000Water covered parts of U.S. Highway 14 between Moorcroft and Carlile, which closed the road for about one hour.
July 2025Tornado (EF1)Moorcroft-Survey team determined that an EF-1 landspout tornado impacted a home and adjacent homestead 10 NW of Moorcroft.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
March 2019FloodMoorcroft-Water flowing into and from Keyhole Reservoir in Crook County, combined with ice in the river channel, caused minor flooding along the Belle Fourche River around Moorcroft and Hulett. The reservoir elevation at Keyhole Reservoir set a record of 4101.98 feet on March 28, surpassing the previous record of 4100.38 feet set in May of 1978. The river gage on the Belle Fourche River near Alva crested at 6.28 feet, which is 1.28 feet above flood stage.
April 2019FloodMoorcroft-Water flowing into and from Keyhole Reservoir in Crook County, combined with ice in the river channel, caused minor flooding along the Belle Fourche River around Moorcroft and Hulett. The reservoir elevation at Keyhole Reservoir set a record of 4101.98 feet on March 28, surpassing the previous record of 4100.38 feet set in May 1978. The river gage on the Belle Fourche River near Alva crested at 6.28 feet, which is 1.28 feet above flood stage.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2019HailMoorcroft-Winds gusted to around 50 mph.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-Winds were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-Wind gusts were estimated at 70 mph.
May 2008FloodMoorcroft-Heavy rain caused flooding in Moorcroft. Minor flooding was observed along the Belle Fourche River from the Campbell County line downstream to Keyhole Reservoir.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-Wind speed estimated by law enforcement at 60 to 80 mph.
September 2021HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2019HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2019HailMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2019HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2018HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2018HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2017Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2016Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed
May 2013HailMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2013HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2011HailMoorcroft-no account filed
May 2009HailMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2009HailMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2009HailMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2008HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2008HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2008HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2008HailMoorcroft-no account filed
May 2007HailMoorcroft-no account filed
May 2007FloodMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2006HailMoorcroft-no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2004HailMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2003HailMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2003HailMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2002HailMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2001HailMoorcroft-no account filed
June 2001HailMoorcroft-no account filed
August 2001LightningMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2001HailMoorcroft-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindMoorcroft-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Crook 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
Pine Haven9.9 miles14
Carlile17.3 miles15
Linden19.2 miles13
Carlile Junction21.6 miles13
Oshoto22.4 miles12
Devils Tower26.2 miles13
Sundance32.0 miles16
New Haven33.6 miles12

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 MoorcroftAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1028102The 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 1601528. 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.