New Mexico natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 2,112,636 · 33 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 24,740 storm events in New Mexico since 1950, 22,951 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 679 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are drought records (6,408). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest storm in New Mexico is the May 1, 1999 high wind in Chaves County: 7 deaths. FEMA has made 126 declarations for New Mexico since 1954, 113 for natural hazards; 39 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in New Mexico each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 24,7401950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 191767 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $4.4Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 6791950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 12639 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in New Mexico?

By NOAA's records, New Mexico's most frequent hazards are drought records (6,408), hail reports (5,297), high wind and dust records (4,278); the deadliest are winter storm records (56 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

New Mexico: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Drought	6,408	3,489	0	0	$30M	33 of 33
Hail	5,297	1,311	3	64	$237M	33 of 33
High wind and dust storms	4,278	2,437	20	142	$49M	33 of 33
Winter storms	2,947	984	56	201	$155M	33 of 33
Severe thunderstorm wind	2,403	922	4	45	$63M	33 of 33
Floods	1,880	653	51	19	$686M	33 of 33
Tornadoes	687	109	5	163	$164M	31 of 33
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	196	52	8	11	$157K	29 of 33
Wildfires	162	94	5	50	$2.9B	27 of 33
Heavy rain	150	29	6	15	$2.8M	30 of 33
Extreme cold	133	66	11	0	$1.6M	33 of 33
Heat	102	32	4	2	–	32 of 33
Lightning	70	9	13	52	$1.3M	22 of 33
Landslides and avalanches	27	25	5	3	$60M	11 of 33

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in New Mexico?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

New Mexico: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
1999-05-01	High WindChaves County · forecast zone Guadalupe Mountains Of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves High winds were blamed in a fatal travel trailer-church bus accident in southwest Chaves County that claimed 7 lives. State Police concluded that winds of 50-55 mph swept a truck pulling a travel trailer into the opposing lane and slicing into an on-coming bus filled with teenagers returning from a church retreat. One ...		7	0	–
2011-12-19	Heavy SnowCurry County · forecast zone Curry County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong upper level storm system moved across southern New Mexico, and initially brought heavy snow to western and central New Mexico. Then, a very strong cold front plowed across the northeast and east central plains bringing winds up to 60 mph and more heavy snow. More than a foot of snow fell across Union County. ...		5	7	$4K
2022-02-01	Heavy SnowBernalillo County and 2 more · forecast zone Sandia/Manzano Mountains Including Edgewood One storm episode: 3 records in 2 places, 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-02; the totals are the episode's. A strong winter storm system deepened over the Rockies before tracking southward into New Mexico on February 1, 2022 and continuing into February 2nd. Accompanying this system was a backdoor cold front that brought in very cold arctic air into northern and central New Mexico. This blast of cold air combined with the ...		4	9	–
1996-07-14	Flash FloodLake Arthur, Chaves County A woman and three children drowned when the car they were riding was swept off the pavement into Walnut Creek. The normally dry creek was running 4 feet deep over a dip in the road following heavy rain of 2 to 4 inches on the watershed 12 to 18 miles to the west. Rain had ended about 3 PM. Water began to fill the ...		4	0	–
2015-05-24	Strong WindBernalillo County and 2 more · forecast zone Albuquerque Metro Area Cherry picker crane carrying several individuals at Cochiti Road and Dorothy Street was toppled by an erratic outflow wind gust between 30 and 40 mph. The crane operator and one child were killed on the scene. Three others were injured. One of the injured children died several days later in the hospital.	35 kt wind	3	3	–
2025-07-08	Debris FlowAlto, Lincoln County One storm episode: 7 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. The monsoon high was centered over the Arizona and New Mexico border July 8th. Daytime heating combined with rich Gulf moisture along the east slopes of the Sacramento Mountains resulted in the development of thunderstorms over the west end of the South Fork burn scar during the early afternoon. These storms trained ...		3	2	$50M
2025-02-27	Dust StormGrant County and Hidalgo County · forecast zone Southwest Desert/Lower Gila River Valley Winds gusted over 50 mph at times along the Lordsburg Playa resulting in dust channels that created near zero visibilities. These visibilities affected Interstate 10 and caused an 11 vehicle accident around mile marker 10. The accident and continued reduced visibilities at times kept the interstate closed through much ...		3	0	–
2008-07-11	Flash FloodGamerco, McKinley County The heavy rain caused water up to three feet deep to flow through downtown Gallup, on either side of Interstate 40. A rock slide occurred near the intersection of West Jefferson Avenue and Highway 491, causing a large boulder to crush three transients who were seeking shelter from the rain. A section of Highway 491 ...		3	0	$55K
2022-07-21	Flash FloodPendaries, San Miguel County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. While thunderstorm coverage was not as widespread compared to the previous day, July 21, 2022, was still a very active monsoon day for northern New Mexico in part due to the training of thunderstorms along the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon burn scar. Thunderstorms developed early in the day with steering flow tracking ...		3	0	$2.5M
2021-07-20	Flash FloodAlbuquerque, Bernalillo County A thunderstorm with heavy rain rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour resulted in flash flooding across eastern portions of Albuquerque. Several reports of flooded roadways and yards in the Albuquerque foothills was received. The rainfall also quickly filled up in city's arroyos, and three people within the arroyos were ...		3	0	–

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in New Mexico

New Mexico: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2000-05-04	WildfireLos Alamos County		0	0	$2.6B
2024-10-19	Flash FloodRoswell, Chaves County		2	0	$470M
2015-12-26	BlizzardChaves County · forecast zone Southwest Chaves County		0	0	$125M
2022-05-01	WildfireColfax County and 2 more · forecast zone East Slopes Sangre De Cristo Mountains		0	3	$101M
2004-10-05	HailSocorro County	3.00 in hail	0	0	$62M
2025-07-08	Debris FlowAlto, Lincoln County		3	2	$50M
1997-05-28	HailHobbs, Lea County	2.50 in hail	0	0	$50M
2008-07-26	FloodHollywood, Lincoln County		1	0	$34M

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $25M, in the dollars of the day) holds: May 27, 1982 (tornado, Lea County).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in New Mexico have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in New Mexico

Billion-dollar disasters in New Mexico

NOAA counted 38 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected New Mexico, led by drought (18). The most recent: New Mexico Wildfires (2024); Southern/Eastern/Northwestern Drought and Heat Wave (2024); Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave (2023).

New Mexico: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Drought	18	$2.0B-$5.0B
Wildfire	12	$2.0B-$5.0B
Severe Storm	7	$1.0B-$2.0B
Tropical Cyclone	1	$250M-$500M

Every one of the 38, newest first

New Mexico Wildfires2024
Southern/Eastern/Northwestern Drought and Heat Wave2024
Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave2023
Southern and Central Severe Weather2022
Western Wildfires2022
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2022
Central Severe Storms2021
Western Wildfires2021
Western Drought and Heat Wave2021
Western Wildfires - California, Oregon, Washington Firestorms2020
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2020
Southwest/Southern Plains Drought2018
Central and Northeast Severe Weather2018
Colorado Hail Storm and Central Severe Weather2017
Texas Tornadoes and Midwest Flooding2015
Western Drought2014
Western/Plains Drought/Heat Wave2013
Rockies/Southwest Severe Weather2012
Western Wildfires2012
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave2012
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona Wildfires2011
Southern Plains/Southwest Drought and Heat Wave2011
Rockies/Central/East Severe Weather2010
Western Wildfires2009
Southwest/Great Plains Drought2009
U.S. Wildfires2008
Hurricane Dolly2008
U.S. Drought2008
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Drought2006
Numerous Wildfires2006
Western/Central Drought/Heat Wave2003
Western Fire Season2002
U.S. Drought2002
Western/Central/Southeast Drought/Heat Wave2000
Western Fire Season2000
Southern Plains Drought1996
Central, Southern and Northeast Drought/Heat Wave1995
Western Fire Season1994

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for New Mexico, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in New Mexico

FEMA has made 126 declarations for New Mexico since 1954: 39 major disasters, 17 emergencies and 70 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are fire (75), flood (23), severe storm (13).

1950s 2
1960s 1
1970s 9
1980s 3
1990s 7
2000s 36
2010s 32
2020s 36

The 15 most recent declarations in New Mexico
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2026-06-30	DR-4918	Severe Storm	Severe Storms and Flooding	1
2025-07-22	DR-4886	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides	4
2025-07-10	EM-3628	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides	4
2025-06-22	FM-5594	Fire	Cotton 2 Fire	1
2025-06-21	FM-5593	Fire	Desert Willow Fire Complex	1
2025-06-16	FM-5588	Fire	Trout Fire	1
2025-04-18	FM-5579	Fire	Rio Grande Fire	1
2024-11-01	DR-4843	Flood	Severe Storm and Flooding	1
2024-08-20	DR-4809	Flood	Severe Storms and Flooding	1
2024-06-20	DR-4795	Fire	South Fork Fire, Salt Fire, and Flooding	5
2024-06-18	FM-5498	Fire	Salt Fire	3
2024-06-17	FM-5497	Fire	South Fork Fire	3
2024-05-26	FM-5492	Fire	Blue 2 Fire	1
2023-05-10	FM-5465	Fire	Las Tusas Fire	2
2023-04-02	FM-5461	Fire	Echo Ridge Fire, Nm Fmag	1

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in New Mexico

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $41.8 million on 1,929 claims in 29 New Mexico counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across New Mexico's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates New Mexico's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Relatively High 2
Relatively Moderate 8
Relatively Low 14
Very Low 9

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.