121
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$2.6M
Property damage
Hail in Otero County, New Mexico: 121 recorded events between 1959 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 3. That places the county #1,192 nationally and #18 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Otero County, New Mexico: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Otero County is the 2010s, when 43 of the county's 121 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Otero County archive, hail makes up 38.8% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,192 for this hazard and #18 within New Mexico, putting it in the 61.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for hail in Otero County with 34 recorded events, while Feb is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 29, 2025 | TULAROSA | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 13, 2025 | CLOUDCROFT | 1.25 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2025 | CLOUDCROFT | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 22, 2023 | CLOUDCROFT | 0.75 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2023 | MESCALERO | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 11, 2021 | VALMONT | 1.75 | $0 |
| Jul 11, 2021 | (ALM)WH SANDS/ALAMAG | 1.75 | $0 |
| Jul 11, 2021 | (ALM)WH SANDS/ALAMAG | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 11, 2021 | CLOUDCROFT | 1.75 | $0 |
| Sep 8, 2020 | (ALM)WH SANDS/ALAMAG | 1.75 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Otero County
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
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.
A local trained spotter reported several minutes of .70 inch hail across western portions of the city of Cloudcroft in association with a strong thunderstorm that moved over the area. .50 inches of heavy rain was also reported from this storm.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Otero County, New Mexico?
121 hail events are recorded in Otero County between 1959 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Otero County?
The strongest hail on record in Otero County measured 3.
Where does the hail data for Otero County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Hail in Otero County, New Mexico.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-mexico/otero-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.