Bernalillo County, New Mexico severe weather history spans 457 recorded events between 1957 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 40.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,032 nationally and #8 in New Mexico.
457
Recorded events
13
Direct deaths
25
Direct injuries
$21.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Bernalillo County, New Mexico severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Bernalillo County, New Mexico severe weather history averages 6.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 184 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 34 events fall before 1990 and 423 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Bernalillo County, New Mexico record is flash flood, responsible for 10 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $10.8M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Bernalillo County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 186 | 0 | $10.8M | 2.75 | 1957–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 122 | 0 | $1.7M | 78 | 1959–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 97 | 10 | $7.2M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 17 | 0 | $278K | F1 | 1957–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 16 | 1 | $1.3M | 175 | 1996–2020 |
| Lightning | 11 | 1 | $91K | 0 | 1996–2018 |
| Dust Devil | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2014–2026 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2005–2012 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $25K | 0 | 2025–2025 |
| Heavy Snow | 1 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 1997–1997 |
Decade by decade
Bernalillo County, New Mexico severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
16 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 16 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974-10-10 | EF2 | 1 | 8 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-07-30 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-01-29 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-06-05 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-08-15 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-08-03 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-04-16 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1991-05-15 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1990-07-14 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Bernalillo County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2021 | Flash Flood | ALBUQUERQUE | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| May 21, 2018 | Heavy Rain | ALBUQUERQUE | 1 | 5 | $0 |
| Aug 9, 2024 | Flash Flood | KIRTLAND AFB | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 2, 2025 | Flash Flood | PARADISE HILLS | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 9, 2024 | Flash Flood | CARNUEL | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 27, 2021 | Flash Flood | ALBUQUERQUE | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 22, 2015 | Flash Flood | ALBUQUERQUE | 1 | 0 | $50K |
| Sep 22, 2010 | Flash Flood | CARNUEL | 1 | 0 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A thunderstorm with heavy rain rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour resulted in flash flooding across eastern portions of Albuquerque. Several reports of flooded roadways and yards in the Albuquerque foothills was received. The rainfall also quickly filled up in city's arroyos, and three people within the arroyos were swept away. Emergency crews performed water rescues for the three individuals for several hours on July 20th, but rescue efforts were not successful. Unfortunately, emergency personnel recovered the bodies of two adult men on July 21st in the diversion channel washout area, and the body of a third adult man was recovered on July 22nd. A spokesperson for Albuquerque Fire remarked that this was the deadliest flooding event in Albuquerque in recent memory.
Media reports indicated a man was swept away and died in fast moving water that filled the north diversion channel arroyo. Eye witness reports noted the man was outside the arroyo before somehow ending up in it and being swept away. Search and rescue attempts by the fire department found the body two hours later in the Rio Grande. The only other information available at this time is that it was a male between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. The intense rainfall rates also washed lots of landscaping material, including rocks, mud, and fabric material, into streets across the metro area. A water mark near Carlisle and Comanche suggested the water was as high as 2 feet in the intersection. Road crews spent several hours cleaning up streets across the city.
Four people in the North Diversion Channel under Interstate 25 at Montgomery Blvd. were swept downstream by swift moving water from a nearby thunderstorm that was producing heavy rain. Three men were able to pull themselves out of the Channel, but a fourth male, Brandon Clifford Jordan, was found dead the next day in the Channel at 2nd street and Alameda.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively High
FEMA NRI risk rating
673,930
Population (ACS)
$293K
Median home value
11
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 16, 2016 | Fire | DOG HEAD FIRE | FM |
| Sep 30, 2013 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 3, 2011 | Fire | WHITE FIRE | FM |
| Jun 16, 2006 | Fire | MALPAIS FIRE | FM |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Albuquerque 272
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Bernalillo County, New Mexico?
457 events are on record between 1957 and 2026, causing 13 direct deaths and $21.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Bernalillo County?
Hail, with 186 recorded events — 40.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Bernalillo County?
16 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 16 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Bernalillo County?
11 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Bernalillo County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Bernalillo County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Bernalillo County as relatively high risk, placing it in the 94 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Bernalillo County, New Mexico severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Catron County 68
- Chaves County 581
- Cibola County 93
- Colfax County 429
- Curry County 655
- De Baca County 246
Cite this page
“Bernalillo County, New Mexico.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-mexico/bernalillo-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.