Otero County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (235).

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 28, 2008Hail$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail from quarter to golf ball size, with occasional hail stones the size of tennis balls accumulated to about 3 inches in the Tularosa area. The hail was driven by wind gusts up to 80 mph, and broke windows, damaged roofs and sidings to more than 500 homes in Tularosa.

2. Jun 22, 2006Flash Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorms developed over the southern Sacramento Mountains and along the eastern heights of Alamogordo. One storm in particular dropped about an inch and a half of rain in 40 minutes over Marble Canyon , which drains into eastern Alamogordo. Other storms added heavy rain and several inches of drifting small hail to that section of town. Strong winds blew shingles off houses, but flooding was the main problem. Roads along the eastern heights turned into raging torrents which flowed westward into the center of town. Mud flowed into numerous houses and several vehicles were swept into arroyos. A gas main was broken which led to the evacuation of residents in the vicinity.…

3. Aug 16, 2006Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall along the western slopes of the southern Sacramento Mountains led to excessive runoff and major flooding in Alamogordo and Boles Acres. Numerous roads throughout the area were closed, covered with water and debris. There were also some rescues of people trapped in their homes.

4. Mar 13, 2019High Wind, Sacramento Mountains Above 7500 Feet$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS Storm survey revealed hundreds of ponderosa pines were either uprooted or snapped in the Village of Cloudcroft which resulted in damage to 30 structures, 10 vehicles and blocking 15 roads. Prior to the damage occurring, light to moderate frozen precipitation fell which led to rime ice buildup on the windward side of exposed trees. Across the entire area, over 1000 trees were snapped or uprooted due to sustained winds of 60 to 70 mph through much of the day with gusts over 100 mph. Cloudcroft lost power for over 24 hours starting around 11 am on 3/13. ||The most significant damage was located along a north to south exposed ridge line on the windward side of the mountain. Most…

5. Aug 1, 2006Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several thunderstorms with heavy rains moved southward across the southern Sacramento Mountains, dropping 2 to 3 inches of rain. Flash flooding occurred from Cloudcroft to Timberon, with many roads washed out and structures damaged in the Timberon area.

6. May 28, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$360,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wet microburst estimated at 80 mph destroyed a double wide mobile home, flipped several others, unroofed a few homes, and blew down several trees, power poles and power lines.

7. Aug 13, 2006Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A stationary thunderstorm dropped several inches of rain on Mayhill, with some residents and area ranchers reporting up to 5 inches in an hour. This resulted in a wall of water 9 to 10 feet high down the Rio Penasco River. Extensive flash flooding closed Highway 82, and damaged roads, bridges and homes.

8. Jun 4, 2019Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm survey showed a mobile home was completely destroyed with 3 other residences receiving moderate damage due mainly to flying debris. Several out buildings including sheds and barns were either completely destroyed or heavily damaged. One out building was shifted off it's foundation and moved approximately 9 feet north. A metal silo used for storage was lifted off it's foundation and traveled airborne for approximately 400 feet before striking one of the residential structures.

9. Jun 23, 2009Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms dropped nearly 3 inches of rain in the Cloudcroft area, which led to flash flooding in and near the town. Water was over two feet deep in parts of Cloudcroft, resulting in some apartments flooded. Rock slides also occurred along Highway 82 in the area.

10. Jul 17, 2008Flash Flood$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Rainfall amounts of up to 2 inches fell on the South Tularosa Fire burn scar above Mescalero, resulting in excessive runoff. Logs washed on to Route 10, and much debris blocked residences. A fish hatchery was destroyed which killed all the fish.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jun 27, 1994

All-time low

−25°FJan 11, 1962

Warmest night

87°FJun 24, 1952

Coldest day

17°FJan 11, 1962

Wettest day

3.83 inSep 21, 1941

Snowiest day

12.0 inDec 14, 1987

Hottest year

2017mean 62.6°F

Coldest year

1976mean 57.4°F

Wettest year

194120.89 in

Driest year

19562.24 in

Snowiest season

20.5 in1987-88

Station White Sands Natl Mon (USC00299686), 4,006 ft elevation, 10.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 to August 31, 2026; 87.4% 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 USC00299686.
• 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.