NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Alto, 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 Alto, New Mexico since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 10 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 10
- 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 Alto
The highest rating among the 10 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on June 8, 2014, came within 24 miles. Of the 10, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. May and June have had the most tornadoes, 4 each. The most recent tornado was on July 9, 2024. Alto has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 48% of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 45 times since 1994, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Alto has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
Compare Alto's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Alto
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s5
- 2000s2
- 1980s1
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 2014 | EF1 | 24 mi | 1.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 16, 1987 | F1 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 1972 | F1 | 1 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 2019 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2017 | EF0 | 21 mi | 0.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 26, 2015 | EF0 | 9 mi | 0.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 14, 2010 | EF0 | 6 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 2007 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2003 | F0 | 9 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 9, 2024 | Unrated | 6 mi | 0.55 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 10 of 10, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Alto
The Storm Prediction Center has 45 hail reports within 10 miles of Alto since 1994, made on 30 separate days. Of these, 21 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on June 19, 2024, the most recent report. July has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Alto
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ruidoso, NM, 4 miles south of Alto at 6,930 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 51°F; January is the coolest, at 49°F and 21°F. July is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and April the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 22.0 inches over 53 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from June to July. Lows fall below freezing on about 156 nights a year. Snowfall averages 26.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 22.0 inches is more than at 56 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (97%). Mescalero, 19 miles south, has its own station (Cloudcroft, NM): 28.5 inches a year, 6.5 more than here, and a July average high of 72°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49 | 21 | 1.1 | 3 | 7.9 |
| Feb | 51 | 23 | 1.0 | 3 | 5.5 |
| Mar | 58 | 27 | 0.9 | 3 | 2.2 |
| Apr | 65 | 33 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.6 |
| May | 73 | 40 | 1.2 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 47 | 2.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 51 | 4.3 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 50 | 4.2 | 10 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 44 | 2.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 35 | 1.7 | 4 | 1.0 |
| Nov | 56 | 26 | 0.8 | 3 | 1.8 |
| Dec | 48 | 22 | 1.5 | 4 | 7.2 |
| Year | 65 | 35 | 22.0 | 53 | 26.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ruidoso, NM (6,930 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 Alto
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 97 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Alto: 88 flash floods, 4 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 heavy rain events, 1 flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $28.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 64 mph, on May 14, 2019. July has had the most flash floods, 41 of 88. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 91 have had fewer than Alto.
May 15, 2015: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Alto — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “Kalina Jinzo, a 40-year mother of three, was struck by lightning and killed while traveling from Albuquerque to Ruidoso on a motorcycle on the 15th. Her husband was also struck but his injuries were not life threatening.”
July 26, 2008: flood 8 miles from the centre of Alto — 1 killed, $25.0 million damage.
July 7, 2013: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Alto — 1 injured.
NWS: “Emergency Manager relayed that Bonito Lake Rd. near Bonito Lake was washed out.”
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
Lincoln County, which includes Alto, has been named in 35 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 fires, 9 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides, on July 22, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lincoln County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $27.8 million a year, the 12th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.9 million (43%), 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.