NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bernalillo, 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 Bernalillo, New Mexico since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 25 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 25
- 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 Bernalillo
The highest rating among the 25 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on September 13, 1988, came within 3 miles. Of the 25, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 12 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on August 19, 2025. Bernalillo has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 44 times since 1990, with stones up to 1.1 inches. Bernalillo has more hail reports within 10 miles than 71% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bernalillo
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s2
- 2000s3
- 1990s3
- 1980s4
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 13, 1988 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1965 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 20, 1956 | F1 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 2021 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 2021 | EF0 | 19 mi | 1.74 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 2020 | EF0 | 13 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | EF0 | 12 mi | 0.04 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 3, 2011 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2009 | EF0 | 23 mi | 0.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 2007 | EF0 | 17 mi | 3.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 16, 2005 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 20, 1991 | F0 | 9 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 25, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Bernalillo
The Storm Prediction Center has 44 hail reports within 10 miles of Bernalillo since 1990, made on 29 separate days. Of these, 13 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.1 inches, fell on September 30, 2017. The most recent report is from May 31, 2021. July has the most reports, 12.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Bernalillo
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Rio Rancho #1, NM, 5 miles southwest of Bernalillo at 5,230 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 47°F and 22°F. August is the wettest at 1.8 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 10.4 inches over 26 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 85 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 131 nights a year. Snowfall averages 9.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 10.4 inches is more than at 18 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (31%). Placitas, 6 miles east, has its own station (Jemez Dam, NM): 8.8 inches a year, 1.6 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47 | 22 | 0.5 | 2 | 1.6 |
| Feb | 54 | 25 | 0.5 | 1 | 2.0 |
| Mar | 63 | 32 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.6 |
| Apr | 72 | 39 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.0 |
| May | 80 | 48 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 92 | 58 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 94 | 63 | 1.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 61 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 54 | 1.3 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 41 | 1.4 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 58 | 29 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Dec | 47 | 23 | 0.8 | 2 | 3.8 |
| Year | 71 | 41 | 10.4 | 26 | 9.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Rio Rancho #1, NM (5,230 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 Bernalillo
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 62 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bernalillo: 32 flash floods, 26 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 heavy rain events, 1 flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 7 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $2.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on December 1, 2007. July has had the most flash floods, 15 of 32. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 81 have had fewer than Bernalillo.
July 20, 2021: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Bernalillo — 3 killed.
August 18, 2016: heavy rain event 6 miles from the centre of Bernalillo — 2 killed.
NWS: “S. Highway 550 near the National Guard Armory north of Rio Rancho.”
July 4, 2009: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Bernalillo — 1 killed, 6 injured.
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 Bernalillo's ZIP code 87004 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1987, and were paid $27,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. Of the 25 New Mexico cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 1 have fewer than Bernalillo.
Sandoval County, which includes Bernalillo, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 fires, 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). 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 Sandoval County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $31.5 million a year, the 11th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $21.0 million (67%), 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 Bernalillo
- Placitas, NM6 mi
- Corrales, NM7 mi
- Rio Rancho, NM8 mi
- Algodones, NM8 mi
- Albuquerque, NM15 mi
- Cedar Crest, NM16 mi
- Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM17 mi
- Sandia Park, NM18 mi
- Jemez Pueblo, NM23 mi
- Tijeras, NM25 mi
- Edgewood, NM27 mi
- Bosque Farms, NM33 mi
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