Los Alamos County

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.

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 (7), USGS Post-Fire Debris Flows (5).

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. May 4, 2000Wildfire$1.5 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hot and dry weather throughout the spring culminated in a series of dastivating wildfires that sorched nearly 90,000 acres of forest and ravaged Los Alamos and the adjacent Los Alamos National Labratory (LANL). Wildfire also threatened eastern areas of Ruidoso.A prescribed burn which was ignited May 4 on property of the Bandilier National Monument quickly escaped its project area and then was fanned by gusty winds on May 6 and May 7 into a wildfire known as the Cerro Grande Fire. Despite containment efforts on May 8 and May 9, gusty winds and hot temperatures the afternoon and evening of May 10 caused the Cerro Grande Fire to rage into a fast moving fire storm which swept into…

2. Jul 1, 2011Wildfire, Jemez Mountains$17.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Las Conchas wildfire damaged 80 homes, of which, 15 were primary residences. The other 65 homes were seasonal. Numerous outbuildings were also damaged or destroyed and 10 vehicles were completely destroyed. The fire prompted evacuations of Los Alamos National Labs, Bandelier National Monument, the city of Los Alamos, as well as numerous other campgrounds and homes within the burn area itself. The fire burned portions of the Santa Clara, Cochiti, San Ildefonso and Santa Domingo Indian Reservations as well as portions of Bandelier National Monument and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. This fire burned on both sides of Highway 4, and up to Highway 501, causing both highways…

3. Apr 22, 2022Wildfire, Jemez Mountains$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cerro Pelado Fire began during the afternoon hours of April 22nd approximately seven miles east of Jemez Springs. With very high winds in the area, this fire rapidly spread, and by the morning of April 23rd, it had grown to 4,688 acres. Evacuation orders were quickly given for Sierra de Los Pinos and other communities near the Cerro Pelado Fire. This fire even prompted the closure of New Mexico State Road 4 that leads to Los Alamos. Within a matter of days, this wildfire began to move into the burn scar of the 2011 Las Conchas Fire, the 2013 Thompson Ridge Fire, and the 2017 Cajete Fire. As a persistent windy pattern continued through the remainder of the month of April, this…

4. Aug 21, 2011Flash Flood$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After 1 to 1.5 inches of rain fell on the northern portion of the Las Conchas burn scar, flash flooding was reported in Santa Clara Canyon. Four people that were working in the canyon had to be rescued by helicopter.

5. Jul 2, 2001Flash Flood$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm with heavy rain of 1 to 2 inches in an hour developed over Pueblo Canyon on the west edge of Los Alamos. Storm runoff from the burnt forest was brief, but intense with water and mud flows estimated at 1500 CFS which overwhelmed the inlet structure west of North Road and then breached the street 60 feet above. A 150 yard section of road surface was destroyed and one of the city's main sewer lines was undercut then broken. Debris fill the basement of at least 5 homes along Alabama Avenue.

6. Dec 15, 2021High Wind, Jemez Mountains$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several weather stations across the Jemez Mountains measured wind gusts in excess of 58 mph. An AWOS station at Los Alamos measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph, but damages indicate wind speeds near 90 mph. These high winds resulted in numerous downed trees near Jemez Springs and Valles Caldera National Preserve which closed New Mexico State Road 4. Numerous automobile accidents were reported, and one man was even trapped in his car. Two people were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Damages are estimated.

7. Jul 11, 2025Wildfire, Jemez Mountains$375,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Laguna Wildfire was a lightning started fire originally discovered June 25th and managed in an area of the Santa Fe National Forest roughly 25 miles west of Abiquiu. The fire was managed until a spot fire was discovered outside of the containment lines July 11th. A period of very dry and breezy conditions conducive to fire growth ensued during this time. The Laguna Fire quickly grew from 11,334 acres to 15,714 acres on July 16th, an increase of 4,380 acres before increased monsoonal moisture and rainfall helped fire suppression activities. The Gallina Ranch underwent evacuation orders and smoke impacts. The Vigil Ranch reported 75 of 120 total head of cattle missing after the…

8. Aug 11, 2001Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brief heavy rain and strong runoff caused more damage to North Road in Los Alamos where recent drainage upgrades and repairs were washed away. North Road continues to suffer damage with such rapid and high runoff from the burned areas of Pueblo Canyon which have not recovered from last years Cerro Grande fire storm.

9. Jan 13, 2019Heavy Snow, Jemez Mountains$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five to nine inches of heavy wet snow fell around Los Alamos. The weight of this snow on top of very heavy snowfall from the previous storm resulted in the collapse of a Sonic Drive-In awning. Three vehicles were damaged but fortunately no one was injured. Monetary losses are a very rough estimate for minor damage to the vehicles and loss of the commercial awning.

10. Jul 11, 2012Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Mud, logs and large rocks washed onto State Road 501 (West Jemez Rd.) near State Road 4, as well as in Los Alamos Canyon and along Camp May road. Heavy equipment and road graders were needed to clear the debris.

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

98°FJul 11, 2020

All-time low

−18°FJan 13, 1963

Warmest night

72°F3 times, most recently Jun 27, 1994

Coldest day

0°FFeb 2, 2011

Wettest day

3.52 inSep 13, 2013

Snowiest day

22.0 in2 times, most recently Jan 15, 1987

Hottest year

1950mean 53.8°F

Coldest year

1926mean 46.0°F

Wettest year

194130.34 in

Driest year

19566.80 in

Snowiest season

153.2 in1986-87

Station Los Alamos (USC00295084), 7,424 ft elevation, 2.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1918 to October 7, 2026; 98.6% 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 USC00295084.
• 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.