Rio Arriba County, New Mexico severe weather history spans 123 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is flash flood, accounting for 35.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,805 nationally and #25 in New Mexico.
123
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$6.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Rio Arriba County, New Mexico severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico severe weather history averages 1.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 56 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 10 events fall before 1990 and 113 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Rio Arriba County, New Mexico record is lightning, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $5.7M 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 Rio Arriba County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | 43 | 1 | $5.7M | 0 | 1998–2025 |
| Hail | 41 | 0 | $51K | 2 | 1955–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 23 | 0 | $208K | 70 | 1981–2024 |
| Lightning | 7 | 2 | $113K | 0 | 1996–2015 |
| Tornado | 2 | 0 | $100K | F0 | 1998–2014 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2014 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $305K | 0 | 2010–2023 |
| Dust Devil | 1 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2019–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2023–2023 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Rio Arriba 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
4 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-09-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-08-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-07-13 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-09-29 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Rio Arriba County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2015 | Lightning | TUSAS | 1 | 0 | $3K |
| Aug 16, 2006 | Flash Flood | DIXON | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| May 20, 1997 | Lightning | TRES PIEDRAS | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 22, 2016 | Flash Flood | CHAMITA | 0 | 1 | $25K |
| Aug 17, 2000 | Lightning | ALCALDE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 30, 1999 | Lightning | EL RITO | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A 47 year old male passenger drowned when a small vehicle was swept off State Road 75 just east of Dixon. Other cars had stopped when they saw the water running across the roadway. The driver of the small vehicle drove around stopped vehicles into the fast water. The small car stalled at about the halfway point and was swept downstream into the arroyo. The passenger was unable to escape with the driver.
A rancher was struck and instantly killed by lightning northwest of Tres Piedras. The man and his 13 year old son were mending fence on open range and took shelter from a thunderstorm under isolated, but separate trees. The son was not injured.
Two elderly residents rescued from a mobile home that was washed off it's foundation and displaced over 50 feet downstream. Up to 30 homes inundated with water and at least 10 families displaced from flood waters. U.S. Highway 285, highway 74, and county road 57 all closed to remove mud and debris. County Road 57 washed over with mudslides from nearby mesa.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
40,070
Population (ACS)
$244K
Median home value
16
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 2024 | Fire | SOUTH FORK FIRE, SALT FIRE, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Oct 6, 2014 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Oct 29, 2013 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Jun 26, 2011 | Fire | LAS CONCHAS FIRE | FM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico?
123 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 3 direct deaths and $6.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Rio Arriba County?
Flash Flood, with 43 recorded events — 35.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Rio Arriba County?
4 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 4 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Rio Arriba County?
16 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Rio Arriba County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Rio Arriba County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Rio Arriba County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 81 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Rio Arriba 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
- Quay County 623
- Roosevelt County 530
- Otero County 312
- Sandoval County 242
- Mora County 214
- San Juan County 154
Cite this page
“Rio Arriba County, New Mexico.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-mexico/rio-arriba-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.