Grant County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Grant County: 0.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Volcanoes within 100 miles

1. U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.

USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (131), AZ GS (1), NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 11, 2002Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two severe mulitcell thunderstorms moved into the Lower Gila Region of southwest New Mexico, the stronger storm giving the Silver City area a direct hit with quarter to golfball size hail. Hail fell for about about 30 minutes in one spot at the peak of the storm's life cycle. Dozens of roofs were severely damaged, while automobiles were dented and windshields shattered. Street flooding also resulted from 1.75 inches of rain in 30 minutes. The preliminary damage estimate was over $1 million.

2. Aug 28, 2001Hail$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving severe thundertorm formed just north of Silver City and gradually moved southward across the western half of town and into neighboring Tyrone. Hail, mainly 3/4 inch in diameter, fell for 40 minutes and accumulated up to 6 inches. Within this time, hailstones up to 1.25 inches in diameter fell briefly. Vegetation was stripped, skylights were broken and numerous roofs suffered damage. Automobiles were left with small dents. Snowplows were required to clear the two major highways in western Silver City.

3. Jul 20, 1999Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A weather spotter measured 4 inches of rain at Separ (between Deming and Lordsburg) from a slow moving thunderstorm. The force of the running water washed out some of a railroad bed, knocked over much of the fencing in the area, and resulted in extensive erosion damage to local roads.

4. Jul 28, 2006Flash Flood$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major street flooding, road closures, and 2 rescues of elderly from homes with 4 feet of water resulted when 3.36 inches of rain fell within 2 hours.

5. Jul 19, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A newly placed trailer was overturned and blown off supports and a large trampoline was removed from property on south side of Gila. Another mobile home near River Road suffered significant roof damage and a tree was uprooted on the property. Numerous flattened yucca stalks were reported. ||An uprooted pine tree was observed on a property along highway 153 between Hooker Loop and Lee Road. Hail up to a half inch in diameter was also observed.

6. Jul 26, 2006Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from heavy rains over the Pinos Altos Range caused a flash flood in the Arenas Valley and Santa Clara. Some evacuations took place, and a few homes sustained structural damage.

7. Jul 1, 2000Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving cluster of thunderstorms dropped very heavy rain around San Lorenzo, which resulted in the Mimbres River flooding its banks and submerging Highway 152. The highway was closed, with the water level rising 15 feet above normal to cover a bridge. Some homes in San Lorenzo experienced water damage.

8. Jul 29, 2007Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly 3 inches of rain produced flooding which lead to the closure of two roads in the Bayard area. A handful of businesses were damaged, Cobre High School was 3 feet deep in water, and one family was displaced (aided by the local Red Cross) when the foundation of their house cracked. A water rescue was performed in nearby Santa Clara.

9. Jan 28, 2008Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain (2 inches) on a snowpack led to a flood wave which badly damaged highway bridges south of Gila Hot Springs. Highway 15 was impassable for several hours.

10. Feb 1, 2011Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Southwest Desert Mimbres Basin$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    High temperatures across the region on Feb 2nd included 16F at Deming and 18F about 10 miles south of Deming. Low temperatures on the morning of Feb 3rd included -3F at Cambray near the Luna/Dona Ana County line on Interstate 10, -1F about 10 miles south of Deming, and 0F at Deming. Numerous frozen and burst water pipes were reported. The Marshall Memorial Library in Deming was closed for some time due to a break in the building's fire suppression system causing damage to the ceiling and insulation.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

104°FJun 20, 1960

All-time low

−18°FJan 11, 1962

Warmest night

85°FJul 4, 1997

Coldest day

20°FJan 7, 1997

Wettest day

2.65 inAug 28, 2016

Snowiest day

14.0 inJan 16, 1949

Hottest year

2025mean 59.1°F

Coldest year

1991mean 50.4°F

Wettest year

198823.36 in

Driest year

20236.99 in

Snowiest season

57.9 in1972-73

Station White Signal (USC00299691), 5,991 ft elevation, 16.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 26, 2026; 86.4% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00299691.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.