# Seeley Lake, Montana

Seeley Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Missoula metropolitan area. The town sits beside the 1,030-acre (420 ha) Seeley Lake. The population was 1,682 at the 2020 census.

## History

The community of Seeley Lake is named for Jasper B. Seely, who built a cabin on what was in 1881 known as Clearwater Lake. Seely served as the first ranger on the Lewis and Clarke Forest Reserve. The first road to Seeley Lake came in 1895.

## Geography

Seeley Lake is in northeastern Missoula County and is bordered to the north by Powell County. The southern half of Seeley Lake, the water body, is in the northwest part of the census-designated place. The Clearwater River forms the southwest edge of the community, flowing out of the lake and running south toward the Blackfoot River, part of the watershed of the Clark Fork River.
Montana Highway 83 passes through the community, leading south 14 miles (23 km) to Montana Highway 200 at Clearwater Junction and north 74 miles (119 km) to Bigfork. The city of Missoula is 52 miles (84 km) to the southwest via highways 83 and 200.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Seeley Lake CDP has a total area of 13.1 square miles (34 km$^2$), of which 12.3 square miles (32 km$^2$) are land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km$^2$), or 6.63%, are water.

### Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Seeley Lake has a warm-summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Seeley Lake was 102 °F (38.9 °C) on July 7, 2007, while the coldest temperature recorded was −53 °F (−47.2 °C) on January 7, 1937.
Climate data for Seeley Lake, Montana, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1936–present :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 55 (13) | 62 (17) | 73 (23) | 86 (30) | 93 (34) | 98 (37) | 102 (39) | 101 (38) | 96 (36) | 86 (30) | 66 (19) | 61 (16) | 102 (39) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 44.5 (6.9) | 49.8 (9.9) | 59.3 (15.2) | 69.4 (20.8) | 80.4 (26.9) | 87.1 (30.6) | 93.6 (34.2) | 93.4 (34.1) | 88.3 (31.3) | 75.3 (24.1) | 54.5 (12.5) | 43.1 (6.2) | 95.2 (35.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 32.0 (0.0) | 36.5 (2.5) | 45.1 (7.3) | 53.6 (12.0) | 64.5 (18.1) | 72.2 (22.3) | 83.2 (28.4) | 82.9 (28.3) | 72.8 (22.7) | 56.0 (13.3) | 39.6 (4.2) | 30.6 (−0.8) | 55.8 (13.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 22.0 (−5.6) | 24.7 (−4.1) | 32.5 (0.3) | 40.2 (4.6) | 49.4 (9.7) | 56.4 (13.6) | 63.7 (17.6) | 62.8 (17.1) | 54.6 (12.6) | 42.4 (5.8) | 30.5 (−0.8) | 21.8 (−5.7) | 41.8 (5.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 12.1 (−11.1) | 12.8 (−10.7) | 19.9 (−6.7) | 26.8 (−2.9) | 34.2 (1.2) | 40.5 (4.7) | 44.3 (6.8) | 42.6 (5.9) | 36.5 (2.5) | 28.7 (−1.8) | 21.3 (−5.9) | 13.0 (−10.6) | 27.7 (−2.4) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −18.2 (−27.9) | −14.9 (−26.1) | −0.5 (−18.1) | 15.3 (−9.3) | 23.1 (−4.9) | 30.3 (−0.9) | 35.3 (1.8) | 33.3 (0.7) | 26.1 (−3.3) | 13.3 (−10.4) | 1.6 (−16.9) | −10.4 (−23.6) | −27.1 (−32.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −53 (−47) | −45 (−43) | −42 (−41) | −4 (−20) | 13 (−11) | 23 (−5) | 28 (−2) | 24 (−4) | 15 (−9) | −10 (−23) | −31 (−35) | −44 (−42) | −53 (−47) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.63 (67) | 1.92 (49) | 1.44 (37) | 1.37 (35) | 1.88 (48) | 2.31 (59) | 1.07 (27) | 0.96 (24) | 1.19 (30) | 1.96 (50) | 2.52 (64) | 2.35 (60) | 21.60 (549) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 30.4 (77) | 18.5 (47) | 15.2 (39) | 4.5 (11) | 0.7 (1.8) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 2.3 (5.8) | 18.0 (46) | 28.9 (73) | 118.9 (301.6) |
| Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 24.0 (61) | 26.0 (66) | 23.3 (59) | 7.9 (20) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.3 (3.3) | 7.1 (18) | 15.7 (40) | 29.1 (74) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 15.8 | 11.3 | 11.9 | 11.5 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 8.9 | 11.6 | 13.6 | 15.6 | 139.9 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 13.8 | 9.6 | 7.9 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 8.5 | 14.0 | 59.2 |
| Source 1: NOAA ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service ||||||||||||||

## Aftermath of Rice Ridge Fire

In late summer 2017, Seeley Lake suffered an extended period of hazardous air quality as a result of the Rice Ridge Fire, prompting local officials to urge all residents to evacuate their homes. Scooper aircraft were used to fetch water from Seeley Lake to fight the fire. A followup study will measure the health impacts of the smoke.

## Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,659 people, 589 households, and 411 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 131.9 inhabitants per square mile (50.9/km$^2$). There were 938 housing units at an average density of 86.2 per square mile (33.3/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.94% White, 0.07% African American, 1.46% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.49% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.46% of the population.
There were 589 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $35,101, and the median income for a family was $38,188. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $18,269 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $18,825. About 7.0% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

## Education

The community is in the Seeley Lake Elementary School District and the Missoula High School District.
Seeley-Swan High School provides education for 9th through 12th grade. Their mascot is the Blackhawks.
The Missoula Public Library has a branch location in Seeley Lake.

## Media

The Seeley-Swan Pathfinder is the newspaper for Seeley Lake. It is published weekly.