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.
Population over time
2 figuresMoorcroft 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,009 | |
| 2020 | 946 | -63 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 14 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.
- 1918 USGS Moorcroft quadrangle1:62500
- 1918 USGS Moorcroft quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Gillette quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Gillette quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Moorcroft quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gillette quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Gillette quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Sundance quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Moorcroft quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
25 since 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 11 |
| Natural | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Crook County | ROBINSON ROAD GRASS FIRE |
| 4 August 2009 | Natural | 1,933 acres | Crook County | WINDMILL DRAW |
| 26 August 2015 | Natural | 13 acres | Wyoming State Forestry | ADAMS ROAD |
| 13 August 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Wyoming State Forestry | not named |
| 12 August 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wyoming State Forestry | not named |
| 9 July 2018 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Crook County | ALTAFFER |
| 4 July 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wyoming State Forestry | not named |
| 4 July 2006 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Wyoming State Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 73 shownRegional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Hail | Moorcroft | $800,000 | Wind-driven large hail broke windows and damaged siding and roofs of houses in Moorcroft. The hail also broke windshields and dented vehicles. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Moorcroft | $600,000 | Large hail caused automobile and building damage in Moorcroft. |
| July 2001 | Lightning | Moorcroft | $250,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | $200,000 | Strong winds downed branches, trees, and a few power poles; heavily damaged or destroyed small structures; and ripped the roof off a mobile home. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Moorcroft | $150,000 | Some minor property damage occurred in town. |
| July 2011 | Hail | Moorcroft | $100,000 | no account filed |
| March 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Moorcroft | $20,000 | Eighty houses had hail damage--mostly broken windows and damaged siding. Two police vehicles had moderate hail damage and another was totaled by hail. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Moorcroft | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Moorcroft | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Moorcroft | $5,000 | Two to three feet of water was reported over Wind Creek Road. The road was washed out in eight places. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Moorcroft | $5,000 | Hail accumulated four to six inches deep and damaged house siding and a camper. |
| April 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | $5,000 | Strong winds blew the roof off a garage. Winds were estimated around 60 mph. |
| July 2017 | Flood | Moorcroft | $1,000 | Water covered parts of U.S. Highway 14 between Moorcroft and Carlile, which closed the road for about one hour. |
| July 2025 | Tornado (EF1) | Moorcroft | - | Survey team determined that an EF-1 landspout tornado impacted a home and adjacent homestead 10 NW of Moorcroft. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Moorcroft | - | 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 2019 | Flood | Moorcroft | - | 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 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2019 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | Winds gusted to around 50 mph. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | Winds were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 70 mph. |
| May 2008 | Flood | Moorcroft | - | 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 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | Wind speed estimated by law enforcement at 60 to 80 mph. |
| September 2021 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Flood | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Lightning | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Moorcroft | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Moorcroft | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Haven | 9.9 miles | 14 | |
| Carlile | 17.3 miles | 15 | |
| Linden | 19.2 miles | 13 | |
| Carlile Junction | 21.6 miles | 13 | |
| Oshoto | 22.4 miles | 12 | |
| Devils Tower | 26.2 miles | 13 | |
| Sundance | 32.0 miles | 16 | |
| New Haven | 33.6 miles | 12 |
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 Moorcroft | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1028102 | 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 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.








