NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Alamogordo, NM
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Alamogordo, New Mexico since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 11 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 11
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Alamogordo
The strongest of the 11 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on May 27, 1982; its path came within 4 miles. Of the 11, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on March 13, 2020. Alamogordo has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 59% of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 32 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Alamogordo has more hail reports within 10 miles than 65% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
Compare Alamogordo's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Alamogordo
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s1
- 2000s3
- 1990s1
- 1980s3
- 1970s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1982 | F2 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 2019 | EF1 | 7 mi | 0.31 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 4, 1991 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 1989 | F1 | 4 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 3, 1959 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EF0 | 1 mi | 0.58 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2007 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 2, 2007 | EF0 | 23 mi | 0.58 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 15, 2006 | F0 | 17 mi | 6.54 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1987 | F0 | 7 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 2, 1979 | F0 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 11 of 11, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Alamogordo
The Storm Prediction Center has 32 hail reports within 10 miles of Alamogordo since 1959, made on 23 separate days. Of these, 22 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on August 17, 1959. The most recent report is from July 11, 2021. July has the most reports, 7.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Alamogordo
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Alamogordo, NM, 6 miles north of Alamogordo at 4,380 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 70°F; December is the coolest, at 54°F and 33°F. August is the wettest at 2.0 inches of precipitation on average and March and April the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 10.8 inches over 30 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 89 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 55 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 10.8 inches is more than at 21 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (36%). Holloman Afb, 6 miles west, has its own station (White Sands Natl Mon, NM): 9.9 inches a year, 0.9 less than here, and a July average high of 97°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 33 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Feb | 60 | 37 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.1 |
| Mar | 68 | 43 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Apr | 76 | 51 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| May | 85 | 59 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 94 | 68 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 70 | 1.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 68 | 2.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 86 | 63 | 1.5 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 75 | 51 | 1.0 | 3 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 64 | 41 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 54 | 33 | 1.1 | 3 | 0.9 |
| Year | 75 | 51 | 10.8 | 30 | 2.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Alamogordo, NM (4,380 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Alamogordo
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 45 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Alamogordo: 30 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods and 3 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $229,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on August 4, 1998. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 49 have had fewer than Alamogordo.
August 1, 2014: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Alamogordo — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Law enforcement reported that numerous streets in Alamogordo were flooded. Between 20 to 30 homes on the north side of town were flooded.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Alamogordo's ZIP code 88310 have filed 120 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2006, with 51. Of the 25 New Mexico cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 20 have fewer than Alamogordo.
Otero County, which includes Alamogordo, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1984, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 fires, 5 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides, on July 22, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Otero County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $43.3 million a year, the 9th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $26.8 million (62%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.