Lea County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lea 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 storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 28, 1997Hail$27.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This storm moving to the southeast became an HP Supercell as it passed over the city of Hobbs. By the time the storm arrived over the southern parts of town, hail up to tennis ball size was falling along with strong winds. Most of the trees over the southern 1/3 of town were stripped of their leaves, and numerous houses and cars suffered damage. Streets had hail stacked up over one foot deep in some areas. This storm moved to the southeast into Texas and continued to produce severe weather in Andrews, Winkler, and Ward Counties.

2. Sep 17, 2016Hail$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Lea County and produced tennis ball sized hail in Jal. The hail caused widespread damage to homes and vehicles. The cost of damage is a rough estimate.

3. May 31, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Media replayed a report of a wind turbine fire north of Tatum. This is likely the result of severe wind gusts. Time is estimated from radar. Wind speeds and property damage costs are estimations.

4. Jun 6, 2005Hail$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very large hail caused extensive damage along a swath from near Buckeye to Lovington. Baseball size hail was reported at 16:10 MST just south of Buckeye. An anticyclonic member of a splitting supercell storm rapidly propagated north-northeast towards Lovington. Initial reports of large hail up to the size of baseballs in Lovington were received at 16:30 MST. Within five minutes, destructive golfball to baseball size hailstones severely damaged up to 200 vehicles and approximately 1,000 homes and businesses across the city.

5. Jun 14, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The most extensive damage during this event was confined to the eastern portions Jal, NM with the most notable damage along State Highway 128 in the vicinity of the Lea County/Jal Airport. At this location, a small single engine plane was flipped over. Also, numerous aircraft hanger doors were blown in due to the high winds which resulted in extensive damage to several aircraft storage buildings. Along State Highway 128, 28 power poles stretched along the southern edge of the highway were blown over into the eastbound lane of traffic. Overall, a total of 60 power poles were damaged. Closer to the city, numerous residential structures received significant roof damage, mainly in the…

6. Jan 1, 2006Wildfire, Central Lea County$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record high temperatures (in the mid to upper 70s), very low relative humidities, high winds, and two and a half months without measurable precipitation combined to produce a very active fire weather day. SPC issued a critical fire weather area for west Texas and southeastern New Mexico in their Day 1 Fire Weather Outlook issued early on January 1st. A grass fire driven by wind burned 50,000 acres west of Hobbs on New Year's Day. The western side of Hobbs had to be evacuated, including the community college, a casino, and several neighborhoods. Three firefighters sustained minor injuries, but no one was seriously injured. Four families were provided shelter by the Red Cross,…

7. May 25, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved over Lea County and power lines were knocked down from Lovington to Hobbs along State Highway 18. Wind gusts were estimated to be 60 mph. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

8. May 31, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage location estimated from Emergency Manager report. Damage includes approximately 300 cow hutches blown to the northeast, dozens of cattle fatalities, multiple irrigation pivots overturned, and multiple buildings with roof damage. The estimated wind speeds were 110 mph. Property damage cost is a rough estimation.

9. Mar 12, 2006Wildfire, Central Lea County$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An emergency flare at a gas plant near McDonald, New Mexico started a wildfire that grew to nearly 100,000 acres. Sustained wind speeds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 84 mph and very low relative humidity values contributed to the rapid growth and spread of this fire. These high winds occurred as both upper-level height gradients and surface pressure gradients tightened as a strong upper-level low pressure system approached southeastern New Mexico. The fire began around 10:30am MST and was visible on satellite by 11:00am MST. The NWS first learned of the fire through a cooperative observer in Tatum, New Mexico, who submitted a storm report online at 11:42am MST. New Mexico State…

10. May 25, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A thunderstorm moved over Lea County and knocked down power lines west and south of Hobbs as well as in Hobbs. Fires started due to the downed power lines. A transformer exploded and others burned on power poles in Hobbs. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

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

113°FJun 27, 1994

All-time low

−2°F3 times, most recently Jan 27, 2026

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Aug 12, 2023

Coldest day

8°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

5.61 inSep 27, 2004

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 10, 2021

Hottest year

2024mean 64.4°F

Coldest year

1993mean 57.1°F

Wettest year

200440.64 in

Driest year

20117.53 in

Snowiest season

19.6 in2009-10

Station Denver City (USC00412408), 3,580 ft elevation, 25.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1986 to October 21, 2026; 96.3% 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 USC00412408.
• 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.
• 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.