Socorro County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Socorro 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 (251), 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. Oct 5, 2004Hail$40.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorms developed during the mid morning along the continental divide west of Albuquerque then swept eastward with brief hail again reaching the Albuquerque metro area. A trailing, southern storm that formed over west central Socorro County became intense as it reached the City of Socorro which was pounded by 5 to 10 minutes of baseball size hail with estimated terminal velocities of near 100 mph. This record hail storm produced widespread and intense damage to automobiles, broken windows and screens as well has destroying home and commercial roofs. Damage estimates included $15 million to the New Mexico Tech campus where nearly every building was damaged and the…

2. May 9, 2012Wildfire, Southwest Mountains$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Whitewater/Baldy Complex has burned approximately 20 structures by the end of May. Damages estimated this month are for these structures only, though the fire will continue to burn well into June.

3. Jun 1, 2012Wildfire, Southwest Mountains$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Whitewater/Baldy fire consumed nearly 300,000 acres by the end of June.

4. Sep 10, 2013Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The initial round of intense rainfall on the 10th and 11th flooded numerous roadways and homes then subsequent heavy rainfall through the 15th created extreme flooding. County emergency management indicated a total of at least 16 roads were washed out and damaged severely across the county, including NM 408 and CR 91 between Escondida and Lemitar, and NM 1 between San Antonio and Luis Lopez. The Rio Puerco and Rio Grande rivers both flooded into nearby low lying areas and threatened nearby communities. A breach in a levee on the Rio Puerco flooded several homes and the community of San Francisco was evacuated. The US 380 bridge east of San Antonio was overtopped. US 60 was closed…

5. Jul 26, 2013Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of roads flooded, washed out, and damaged along the Socorro County stretch of U.S. 380. Emergency Manager indicated cost of damage was near 1.2 million dollars.

6. Jul 26, 2013Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of roads flooded, washed out, and damaged in eastern portion of Socorro County. Emergency Manager indicated cost of damage was near 1.2 million dollars.

7. Jul 6, 2021Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very strong thunderstorms with heavy rainfall of 2 to 4 inches severely impacted the Socorro area as well as areas north of the city into the early morning hours of July 7th. The Socorro County emergency manager reported that irrigation ditches throughout Socorro County were impacted with overtopping and washing out due to the flood waters. The La Joya Acequia sustained significant damage with several feet of concrete-lined ditches lost and culverts exposed. The Sabinal Fire Station in northern Socorro County was flooded, and numerous homes in low-lying areas in the County had water surrounding them. Numerous country roads and arroyos were flooded and washed out. The BNSF Railroad…

8. Apr 22, 2022Wildfire, Lower Rio Grande Valley$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A barn caught on fire just north of San Antonio on Olguin Road. With very high winds across the area, sparks from the barn fire were carried which started a brush fire. Fortunately, crews were able to contain the fire within about two hours, but the barn as well as one camper were lost. Damages are estimated.

9. Apr 27, 2025Wildfire, West Central Highlands$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Balsam Wildfire was discovered during a very dry and critical fire weather event on the evening of April 27th, in Grants, NM. Fire crews were able to keep the fire to just 3 to 5 acres, but it unfortunately burned through a residential area. The Grants Fire Chief reported 7 structures were impacted with 2 firemen injured. Damage is an estimate.

10. Jun 10, 2016Wildfire, Lower Rio Grande Valley$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    One house, a barn, and several outbuildings burned between the 10th and the 11th.

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 25, 1902

All-time low

−19°FJan 11, 1962

Warmest night

88°FJun 15, 1902

Coldest day

13°FJan 28, 1948

Wettest day

5.10 inJul 25, 1915

Snowiest day

16.7 inDec 25, 1987

Hottest year

1910mean 63.6°F

Coldest year

1975mean 54.1°F

Wettest year

198618.31 in

Driest year

19010.27 in

Snowiest season

29.7 in1987-88

Station Bosque Del Apache (USC00291138), 4,512 ft elevation, 24.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1894 to September 30, 2026; 88.6% 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 USC00291138.
• 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.