NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Belen, 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 Belen, 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 Belen
The strongest of the 10 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on May 27, 1975; its path came within 3 miles. Of the 10, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. May and July have had the most tornadoes, 3 each. The most recent tornado was on May 17, 2021. Belen has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 48% of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 21 times since 1959, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Belen has more hail reports within 10 miles than 53% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Belen
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2000s2
- 1980s1
- 1970s1
- 1960s2
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1975 | F2 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1966 | F1 | 4 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 2021 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 15, 2020 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.35 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 17, 2005 | F0 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 30, 2004 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 1987 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 30, 1963 | F0 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1957 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1954 | F0 | 5 mi | 3.8 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 Belen
The Storm Prediction Center has 21 hail reports within 10 miles of Belen since 1959, made on 15 separate days. Of these, 18 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 6 days, most recently September 28, 2025. The most recent report is from September 28, 2025. June has the most reports, 6.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Belen
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Los Lunas 3 SSW, NM, 8 miles north of Belen at 4,840 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 62°F; December is the coolest, at 50°F and 20°F. July is the wettest at 1.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 9.3 inches over 25 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 92 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 152 nights a year. Snowfall averages 5.1 inches a year, most of it in December. That 9.3 inches is more than at 7 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (12%). Mountainair, 30 miles east, has its own station (Mountainair, NM): 12.9 inches a year, 3.6 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51 | 19 | 0.5 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Feb | 58 | 23 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Mar | 66 | 30 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.3 |
| Apr | 73 | 37 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 46 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 92 | 56 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 62 | 1.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 60 | 1.5 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 52 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 74 | 38 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 61 | 27 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.6 |
| Dec | 50 | 20 | 0.5 | 2 | 1.6 |
| Year | 73 | 39 | 9.3 | 25 | 5.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Los Lunas 3 SSW, NM (4,840 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 Belen
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 33 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Belen: 20 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $10.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 24, 1999. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 49 have had fewer than Belen.
May 24, 1999: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Belen — 2 injured, $1.2 million damage.
September 29, 2017: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Belen — $7.5 million damage.
NWS: “Retention ponds in Belen overflowing into neighborhoods on west side of Belen. Widespread street flooding in town.”
July 6, 2021: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Belen — $750,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain in Belen resulted in significant flash flooding across the town. Over two inches of rain breached the Belen Highline Canal which caused flooding along Main Street.”
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 Belen's ZIP code 87002 have filed 81 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $886,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2021, with 17. Of the 25 New Mexico cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 17 have fewer than Belen.
Valencia County, which includes Belen, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 4 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 fires, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Mudflows, and Debris Flows, on May 4, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Valencia County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for hail, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $37.5 million a year, the 10th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $29.5 million (79%), 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.
Cities near Belen
- Los Lunas, NM10 mi
- Peralta, NM14 mi
- Bosque Farms, NM16 mi
- Mountainair, NM30 mi
- Albuquerque, NM33 mi
- Tijeras, NM36 mi
- Laguna, NM36 mi
- Estancia, NM38 mi
- Cedar Crest, NM40 mi
- Corrales, NM41 mi
- Edgewood, NM44 mi
- Rio Rancho, NM45 mi
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