PlainHazard

New Mexico drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 33 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 6,408 drought records in New Mexico from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 335 a year since 2000. The costliest was the December 1, 1998 drought ($25.3 million in 2025 dollars). New Mexico ranks 3rd of 51 states and territories by count and 7th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in New Mexico, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • 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
Records
6,4081996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
335average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$30Mas filed
Busiest year
2021634 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in New Mexico?

New Mexico averages about 335 drought records a year since 2000, 3rd of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2021 (634). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New Mexico records 528 drought records since 1996, 7th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in New Mexico have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Los Alamos County leads New Mexico: 91 days with a drought record since 1996, 833.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Santa Fe County has the most drought records (807 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Los Alamos County 833.9 (91)
  2. Valencia County 135.9 (266)
  3. Bernalillo County 129.2 (373)
  4. Curry County 91.1 (128)
  5. Mora County 83.6 (388)
  6. Santa Fe County 78.0 (807)
  7. Harding County 66.8 (142)
  8. Taos County 65.4 (498)
  9. Roosevelt County 54.0 (132)
  10. De Baca County 53.4 (124)
  11. Quay County 49.8 (143)
  12. Sandoval County 48.2 (672)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in New Mexico?

New Mexico's drought records by month. The busiest month is April (656 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 508 · Feb 523 · Mar 612 · Apr 656 · May 604 · Jun 584 · Jul 543 · Aug 565 · Sep 486 · Oct 429 · Nov 443 · Dec 455 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in New Mexico

New Mexico: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1998-12-01 DroughtLea County · forecast zone Lea One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $25M
1996-08-01 DroughtEddy County · forecast zone Eddy County Plains 0 0 $4.5M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in New Mexico?

New Mexico's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: New Mexico and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeNew MexicoUnited StatesNew Mexico's share
1996-991725,6003.1%
2000s59318,5713.2%
2010s2,79631,4418.9%
2020-262,84730,1479.4%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in New Mexico

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtOtero County · forecast zone East Central Tularosa Basin/Alamogordo 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSierra County and 2 more · forecast zone West Central Tularosa Basin/White Sands 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGrant County and Sierra County · forecast zone Southern Gila Region Highlands/Black Range 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGrant County · forecast zone Central Grant County/Silver City Area 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtOtero County · forecast zone East Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtOtero County · forecast zone Sacramento Mountains Above 7500 Feet 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtOtero County · forecast zone West Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSierra County · forecast zone Sierra County Lakes 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGrant County and 2 more · forecast zone Eastern Black Range Foothills 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGrant County and Luna County · forecast zone Southwest Desert/Mimbres Basin 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtHidalgo County · forecast zone Uplands Of The Bootheel 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGrant County and Hidalgo County · forecast zone Lowlands Of The Bootheel 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in New Mexico

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in New Mexico for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on March 2, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-03-02EM-3034Drought8

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

Next