Taos County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Taos 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 (234), NASA (4).

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. Dec 15, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow squall. An intense line of thunderstorms with rain and snow moved quickly through Taos County early in the morning. An AWOS station in Taos measured a peak wind gust of 62 mph, but damage estimates within the city and surrounding areas indicate wind speeds of 80 to 100 mph as these high winds caused extensive damage. These thunderstorms produced a 2.9 mile long swath of damage from Blueberry Hill Road to El Prado oriented in an east-northeast direction. Six to seven homes sustained roof damage while one single wide mobile home was moved off its foundation. Numerous trees were snapped at the base with other large limbs downed, and at least two power poles were snapped at their…

2. Dec 15, 2021High Wind, Northern Sangre De Cristo Mountains$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The weather station at Taos Ski Valley measured about twelve hours of wind speeds in excess of 58 mph with a peak wind gust of 103 mph. These high winds resulted in significant tree damage across Taos Ski Valley with numerous trees downed and splintered. A couple hundred acres of trees were completely flattened near the Wheeler Peak Condominiums. Ten to twenty acres of trees were downed at the El Funko area while another twenty acres of trees were downed near lift four at the ski resort. The Enchanted Forest Ski Site in Red River also reported numerous downed trees in their area. Taos County declared a State of Emergency due to the widespread wind damage. Damages are a rough estimate.

3. May 6, 1996Wildfire$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An escaped trash fire developed into a wind-driven raging forest fire exacerbated by hot temperatures and some of the driest fuel moisture conditions in 30 years. The fire exhibited extreme behavior and had consumed nearly 7000 acres of national forest within the first 24 hours. The fire destroyed over 30 structures and forced evacuations at both Questa and Red River.

4. Apr 24, 2026Wildfire, Espanola Valley$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Riverside Fire began near Espanola, NM near the Santa Claran Hotel within the Santa Clara Pueblo. The fire grew to 44 acres destroying 5 structures, including one single-wide trailer, one home, one recreational vehicle, and two sheds. No injuries or fatalities were reported. Damage is an estimate.

5. Jul 21, 2021Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An estimated 1.5 to 4 inches of heavy rainfall over the course of 3 hours resulted in flash flooding across the historic Picuris Pueblo. As water over topped an arroyo, flood waters rapidly entered the tribal administration building which sustained damages to the flooring. A gym, senior center, and transportation building were also hit hard by the flood waters which also all sustained various amounts of floor damage. Several grave markers in the tribal cemetery were dislodged by the flood waters. Damages to a hydrologic weir that feeds the fish hatchery pond, which houses about 5,000 fish, were also reported. No injuries or fatalities were reported, and damages are estimated.

6. Aug 22, 2022Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Localized heavy rain near Taos clogged an arroyo, causing water to flood the Los Cordovas area. Blueberry Hill Road at Lower Las Colonias Road was closed due to flash flooding with water two feet in depth. Two nearby houses had about one foot of standing water inside. New Mexico Highway 240 near Cotton Road was also closed due to four feet of water over the roadway. Damages are estimated.

7. Aug 12, 2022Flash Flood$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A rock slide was reported along Highway 68 between Taos and Embudo. This rock slide was likely caused by repeated rounds of rainfall and not just this one event. Exact time of the rock slide is unknown and is estimated from radar. Damages are estimated.

8. Apr 10, 2021Wildfire, Espanola Valley$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 140 Fire near Abiquiu burned an estimated thirty acres over the course of about twelve days. One garage and one well house were burned, and two houses were damaged. Damages are estimated for the four structures affected by the fire.

9. Sep 13, 2013Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   State EOC Situation Report #7 and NM DOT indicated NM 68 was closed due to rockslides and debris flow over the roadway.

10. Jul 31, 2025Debris Flow$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Monsoon rains resulted in a mudslide along NM Highway 38 at mile marker 9 approximately 3 miles west of Red River. Both lanes were closed with no estimated time of return to service. Rainfall over a period of time this summer resulting in a gradual loosening of the hillside is the likely culprit of this mudslide. Damage cost is an estimate of cleanup.

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

97°F2 times, most recently Jun 29, 1998

All-time low

−32°FFeb 7, 1989

Warmest night

67°F2 times, most recently Jul 12, 2023

Coldest day

1°FFeb 2, 2011

Wettest day

4.00 inMay 30, 2021

Snowiest day

20.0 inApr 3, 2012

Hottest year

2017mean 49.6°F

Coldest year

1982mean 44.1°F

Wettest year

199426.85 in

Driest year

19626.55 in

Snowiest season

98.6 in1996-97

Station Ocate 2 Nw (USC00296275), 7,655 ft elevation, 35.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to October 19, 2026; 96.2% 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 USC00296275.
• 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.