53
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
11
Direct injuries
$2.4M
Property damage
Tornado in Chaves County, New Mexico: 53 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F2. That places the county #337 nationally and #5 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Chaves County, New Mexico: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Chaves County is the 1990s, when 12 of the county's 53 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 Chaves County archive, tornado makes up 9.1% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #337 for this hazard and #5 within New Mexico, putting it in the 88.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Chaves County with 16 recorded events, while Jan 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.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-03-12 | EF2 | 15.2 mi | 350 yd | Touched down here |
| 1974-08-11 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1962-06-12 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2004-04-08 | EF1 | 1.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1981-06-29 | EF1 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1967-06-04 | EF1 | 1.5 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1966-08-31 | EF1 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-06-10 | EF1 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-06-10 | EF1 | 0.3 mi | 17 yd | Touched down here |
| 1964-09-21 | EF1 | 0.1 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2019 | LAKE ARTHUR | EF2 | 0 | 6 | $2.0M |
| Jun 11, 1965 | F1 | 0 | 3 | $3K | |
| Jun 15, 1961 | F1 | 0 | 2 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2025 | (ROW)ROSWELL IND AIRPORT | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2025 | ACME | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 26, 2024 | HAGERMAN | EF0 | $10K |
| Jun 26, 2024 | HAGERMAN | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 4, 2019 | LAKE ARTHUR | EF0 | $0 |
| May 27, 2019 | BOAZ | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 12, 2019 | LAKE ARTHUR | EF2 | $2.0M |
| Sep 15, 2016 | FLYING H RANCH | EF0 | $0 |
| May 5, 2015 | ROSWELL | EF0 | $20K |
| Jun 8, 2014 | ACME | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Chaves County
- Hail 289
- Thunderstorm Wind 146
- Flash Flood 60
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Just before 6 pm MDT on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, a tornado touched down in Chaves County, about 15 miles south southwest of Dexter. The tornado moved north northeast for approximately 15 minutes before dissipating about one half mile northeast of the community of Dexter. Six people suffered minor injuries, and six homes were substantially damaged or completely destroyed. An additional dozen homes and structures also sustained minor to moderate damage. This was the first March tornado documented in Chaves County since 1959, and the earliest known EF1 or stronger tornado in the state of New Mexico. The last EF2 tornado in New Mexico occurred on May 23, 2012. Damage amounts are a rough estimate.
Trained spotters and the public reported multiple cold-air funnels developing over the Roswell area. Reports indicated that one cold air funnel cloud briefly made contact with the ground and damaged the roof and walls of two outbuildings. No injuries or fatalities were reported with this tornado.
Multiple reports of a landspout, possibly multiple landspouts just east of Hagerman were collected and relayed by the Hagerman Police Chief. A poorly constructed and dilapidated trailer home was destroyed by this landspout. Time is estimated based on a corresponding wind gust measurement and radar data. Path is also based on the multiple reports on the east side of Hagerman likely aligning up to be the one landspout that tracked northward.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Chaves County, New Mexico?
53 tornado events are recorded in Chaves County between 1951 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Chaves County?
The strongest tornado on record in Chaves County measured F2.
Where does the tornado data for Chaves 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
“Tornado in Chaves County, New Mexico.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-mexico/chaves-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.