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New Mexico
The recorded hazard history of every county in New Mexico: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.
New Mexico has 24,740 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 33 counties, led by damaging wind: 20.4 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.
NCEI attributes 191 deaths and 767 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $3.2B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Curry, Los Alamos and Bernalillo.
FEMA lists 126 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Storms And Flooding (30 Jun 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 1,938 flood claims since 1978, $42M paid; 11,342 residential policies are in force.
NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.
Compared with the United States
| Measure | New Mexico | US |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded events since 1950 | 24,740 | 1,977,440 |
| Events per 100 square miles | 20.4 | 56.0 |
| Events per 10,000 residents | 116.9 | 59.6 |
| Deaths recorded by NCEI | 191 | 26,435 |
| Property damage (NCEI estimates) | $3.2B | $575B |
| NFIP claims per 1,000 residents | 0.9 | 8.1 |
| Average paid NFIP claim | $37K | $43K |
| Residential flood policies in force | 11,342 | 3,139,862 |
Hazard mix
Events by decade
Counties by events per 100 square miles
| County | Events | Last 12 mo | Per 100 sq mi | Per 10k residents | Dominant | Tornadoes | Hail | Declarations | NFIP claims | NRI risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curry County | 992 | 9 | 70.6 | 206.7 | Hail | 55 | 342 | 6 | 56 | Relatively Low |
| Los Alamos County | 58 | 0 | 53.2 | 30.0 | Hail | 0 | 37 | 10 | 10 | Very Low |
| Bernalillo County | 461 | 23 | 39.7 | 6.8 | Hail | 17 | 187 | 11 | 173 | Relatively High |
| Quay County | 1,009 | 24 | 35.1 | 1,165.7 | Wind | 43 | 349 | 7 | 11 | Very Low |
| Roosevelt County | 833 | 22 | 34.1 | 438.0 | Hail | 61 | 302 | 7 | 30 | Relatively Moderate |
| Eddy County | 1,077 | 15 | 25.8 | 176.8 | Hail | 59 | 549 | 11 | 51 | Relatively Moderate |
| Union County | 931 | 30 | 24.3 | 2,266.9 | Hail | 48 | 419 | 7 | 0 | Very Low |
| Lea County | 1,022 | 14 | 23.3 | 140.0 | Hail | 97 | 514 | 7 | 208 | Relatively Moderate |
| De Baca County | 512 | 9 | 22.0 | 3,047.6 | Wind | 11 | 144 | 7 | 0 | Very Low |
| Harding County | 445 | 11 | 20.9 | 6,964.0 | Hail | 8 | 143 | 8 | 0 | Very Low |
| Santa Fe County | 353 | 13 | 18.5 | 22.7 | Hail | 27 | 149 | 10 | 53 | Relatively Moderate |
| Guadalupe County | 524 | 20 | 17.3 | 1,177.8 | Hail | 14 | 160 | 9 | 0 | Very Low |
| Colfax County | 433 | 11 | 11.5 | 350.1 | Hail | 22 | 302 | 18 | 8 | Relatively Low |
| Mora County | 216 | 6 | 11.2 | 514.8 | Hail | 12 | 143 | 20 | 64 | Very Low |
| Valencia County | 105 | 4 | 9.8 | 13.6 | Wind | 8 | 32 | 15 | 125 | Relatively Moderate |
| Doña Ana County | 368 | 24 | 9.7 | 16.6 | Wind | 13 | 117 | 10 | 208 | Relatively High |
| Chaves County | 583 | 7 | 9.6 | 90.2 | Hail | 53 | 289 | 9 | 132 | Relatively Moderate |
| San Miguel County | 422 | 10 | 8.9 | 155.4 | Hail | 18 | 282 | 21 | 139 | Relatively Low |
| Torrance County | 248 | 3 | 7.4 | 162.0 | Hail | 18 | 132 | 14 | 1 | Relatively Low |
| Lincoln County | 346 | 31 | 7.2 | 169.3 | Hail | 23 | 135 | 35 | 269 | Relatively Low |
| Sandoval County | 247 | 10 | 6.7 | 16.3 | Flood | 11 | 95 | 21 | 51 | Relatively Low |
| Otero County | 315 | 20 | 4.8 | 46.0 | Hail | 18 | 123 | 24 | 130 | Relatively Moderate |
| Grant County | 172 | 9 | 4.3 | 61.7 | Flood | 7 | 58 | 13 | 9 | Relatively Low |
| Luna County | 124 | 4 | 4.2 | 48.6 | Wind | 4 | 28 | 7 | 4 | Relatively Low |
| Sierra County | 150 | 10 | 3.6 | 130.4 | Flood | 5 | 41 | 13 | 15 | Relatively Low |
| San Juan County | 158 | 6 | 2.9 | 13.1 | Wind | 11 | 28 | 11 | 48 | Relatively Moderate |
| Socorro County | 188 | 12 | 2.8 | 115.3 | Hail | 10 | 61 | 12 | 23 | Relatively Low |
| Taos County | 52 | 5 | 2.4 | 15.0 | Hail | 2 | 17 | 10 | 24 | Relatively Low |
| McKinley County | 120 | 7 | 2.2 | 16.7 | Flood | 5 | 10 | 11 | 20 | Relatively Low |
| Cibola County | 94 | 4 | 2.1 | 34.6 | Flood | 2 | 33 | 9 | 28 | Relatively Low |
| Rio Arriba County | 123 | 2 | 2.1 | 30.6 | Flood | 2 | 41 | 16 | 31 | Relatively Low |
| Hidalgo County | 70 | 4 | 2.0 | 171.8 | Wind | 3 | 17 | 10 | 3 | Very Low |
| Catron County | 68 | 0 | 1.0 | 182.3 | Flood | 0 | 14 | 12 | 5 | Very Low |
Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).
Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force
| County | Claims, last 10 years | Policies in force | Claims per 100 policies | Claims since 1978 | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County | 192 | 267 | 71.9 | 269 | $17M |
| Chaves County | 91 | 282 | 32.3 | 132 | $8.4M |
| Roosevelt County | 13 | 107 | 12.1 | 30 | $322K |
| Socorro County | 12 | 144 | 8.3 | 23 | $435K |
| San Miguel County | 122 | 1,791 | 6.8 | 139 | $824K |
| Mora County | 64 | 1,029 | 6.2 | 64 | $478K |
| Santa Fe County | 13 | 388 | 3.4 | 53 | $958K |
| Doña Ana County | 25 | 947 | 2.6 | 208 | $4.9M |
| Curry County | 4 | 175 | 2.3 | 56 | $563K |
| San Juan County | 3 | 135 | 2.2 | 48 | $537K |
| Valencia County | 43 | 2,142 | 2.0 | 125 | $982K |
| Otero County | 14 | 757 | 1.8 | 130 | $1.5M |
| Sandoval County | 9 | 558 | 1.6 | 51 | $359K |
| Bernalillo County | 16 | 1,069 | 1.5 | 173 | $1.4M |
| Lea County | 10 | 715 | 1.4 | 208 | $931K |
Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.
Federal disaster declarations by year
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Fire | 75 |
| Flood | 23 |
| Severe Storm | 13 |
| Biological | 13 |
| Hurricane | 1 |
| Drought | 1 |
Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jun 2026 | DR-4918 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding | 0 |
| 22 Jul 2025 | DR-4886 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | 3 |
| 10 Jul 2025 | EM-3628 | Emergency | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | 4 |
| 22 Jun 2025 | FM-5594 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Cotton 2 Fire | 1 |
| 21 Jun 2025 | FM-5593 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Desert Willow Fire Complex | 1 |
| 16 Jun 2025 | FM-5588 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Trout Fire | 1 |
| 18 Apr 2025 | FM-5579 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Rio Grande Fire | 1 |
| 1 Nov 2024 | DR-4843 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storm And Flooding | 1 |
| 20 Aug 2024 | DR-4809 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding | 0 |
| 20 Jun 2024 | DR-4795 | Major disaster | Fire | South Fork Fire, Salt Fire, And Flooding | 4 |
| 18 Jun 2024 | FM-5498 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Salt Fire | 2 |
| 17 Jun 2024 | FM-5497 | Fire management assistance | Fire | South Fork Fire | 2 |
| 26 May 2024 | FM-5492 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Blue 2 Fire | 1 |
| 10 May 2023 | FM-5465 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Las Tusas Fire | 2 |
| 2 Apr 2023 | FM-5461 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Echo Ridge Fire, Nm Fmag | 1 |
Flood insurance claims by year
1,938 claims, 1,146 paid, $42M in total; 74 repetitive-loss and 9 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in New Mexico with flood claims (70).
Year by year
Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950
- 1996
- 1995
- 1994
- 1993
- 1992
- 1991
- 1990
- 1989
- 1988
- 1987
- 1986
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- 1984
- 1983
- 1982
- 1981
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- 1978
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- 1957
- 1956
- 1955
- 1954
- 1951
- 1950
Questions and answers
Which New Mexico counties have the most recorded tornadoes?
Lea (97), Roosevelt (61) and Eddy (59), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.
Which New Mexico counties have the most flood insurance claims?
Lincoln (269), Doña Ana (208) and Lea (208) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.
How many federal disaster declarations has New Mexico had?
126 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 1 of them in 2026 so far.
How does New Mexico compare with the national rate?
20.4 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 0.9 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.
Provenance
NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.