Hudspeth County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (2).

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. Apr 12, 2017Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail from 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches in diameter was reported in and around Sierra Blanca. Some areas had hail up to 3 inches deep. Numerous house windows and automobile windshields were damaged, with many cars left dented. Hail also severely damaged dozens of roofs and even penetrated a few.

2. Dec 8, 2009High Wind, Hudspeth$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Gusts over 60 mph were estimated across Hudspeth County. At least one roof was blown off entirely in Sierra Blanca. A power pole was knocked down just east of the El Paso/Hudspeth County line on Highway 62/180. The power pole being knocked down then caused a fire to break out and burn down the Shamrock Cafe.

3. Aug 4, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe microburst occurred a couple miles northeast of Dell City. It was determined a collapsing thunderstorm moving south out of Otero County produced a severe microburst with wind speeds over 60 mph. The emergency manager reported wind damage with splintered power poles, flipped irrigation pivots and damaged farm outbuildings.

4. May 16, 2007Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At least 6 houses were flooded in Sierra Blanca, with one of them evacuated. Most of the secondary roads in the area were washed out and closed.

5. Aug 7, 2004Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense thunderstorm produced winds estimated up to 80 mph which blew down dozens of trees and at least 20 power poles, damaged several roofs and unroofed a mobile home. Power was not fully restored to the town for two days. Also, 3.5 inches of rain fell in an hour which led to widespread flooding. The two main roads serving the area were impassable until well into the following day.

6. Jan 24, 2026Ice Storm, Salt Basin$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Rio Grande Electric Cooperative reported power outages around Dell City related to the ice storm. Reports of up to 1 inch radius ice was on powerlines causing these outages.

7. Feb 1, 2011Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Hudspeth$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High temperatures on Feb 2nd only warmed up to 14F in Dell City. Overnight low temperatures on Feb 3rd fell to -5F at Dell City and 2F in Sierra Blanca. All of Northern Hudspeth County from near Hueco Tanks to Dell City lost power for about 12 hours from the evening of Feb 2nd until early morning Feb 3rd.

8. Sep 26, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A couple of mobile homes were destroyed by a microburst with winds estimated at 70+ mph.

9. Feb 16, 2022High Wind, Rio Grande Valley Of Eastern El Paso/Western Hudspeth Counties$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The El Paso County Sheriff's Department reported numerous downed power lines about 3 miles northwest of Fabens.

10. Aug 7, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An intense thunderstorm produced winds estimated up to 80 mph which blew down dozens of trees and at least 20 power poles, damaged several roofs and unroofed a mobile home. Power was not fully restored to the town for two days. Also, 3.5 inches of rain fell in an hour which led to widespread flooding. The two main roads serving the area were impassable until well into the following day.

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

−4°FFeb 4, 2011

Warmest night

83°FJul 14, 1994

Coldest day

19°FFeb 3, 2011

Wettest day

5.64 inAug 5, 1970

Snowiest day

9.0 inDec 14, 1987

Hottest year

2025mean 66.1°F

Coldest year

1976mean 60.8°F

Wettest year

199116.38 in

Driest year

19943.79 in

Snowiest season

12.0 in1976-77

Station Fort Hancock 8SSE (USC00413266), 3,493 ft elevation, 17.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1966 to August 31, 2026; 85.8% 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 USC00413266.
• 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.
• 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.