NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cloudcroft, 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 Cloudcroft, 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 Cloudcroft
The strongest of the 10 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on May 27, 1982; its path came within 17 miles. Of the 10, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on March 13, 2020. Cloudcroft has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 48% of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 25 times since 1965, with stones up to 2.25 inches. Cloudcroft has more hail reports within 10 miles than 57% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
Compare Cloudcroft's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cloudcroft
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s1
- 2000s1
- 1990s1
- 1980s4
- 1970s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1982 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 2019 | EF1 | 15 mi | 0.31 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 4, 1991 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 1989 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 3, 1959 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EF0 | 18 mi | 0.58 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2007 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1987 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 5, 1981 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 2, 1979 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.1 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 Cloudcroft
The Storm Prediction Center has 25 hail reports within 10 miles of Cloudcroft since 1965, made on 21 separate days. Of these, 17 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.25 inches, fell on May 12, 1965. The most recent report is from July 13, 2025. July has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cloudcroft
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cloudcroft, NM, 3 miles west of Cloudcroft at 8,679 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 72°F and low of 48°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 19°F. July is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and April the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 28.5 inches over 62 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs of 90°F are rare: fewer than one day a year on average. Lows fall below freezing on about 172 nights a year. Snowfall averages 66.8 inches a year, most of it in December. That 28.5 inches is more than at 57 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (98%). Alamogordo, 18 miles southwest, has its own station (Alamogordo, NM): 10.8 inches a year, 17.7 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 72°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 19 | 1.6 | 4 | 13.1 |
| Feb | 45 | 22 | 1.7 | 4 | 13.3 |
| Mar | 51 | 26 | 1.5 | 3 | 9.8 |
| Apr | 58 | 31 | 0.9 | 2 | 3.7 |
| May | 66 | 38 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 74 | 45 | 2.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 72 | 48 | 5.5 | 11 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 71 | 47 | 5.0 | 11 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 67 | 42 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 34 | 2.1 | 4 | 3.2 |
| Nov | 51 | 26 | 1.4 | 3 | 7.3 |
| Dec | 43 | 19 | 2.2 | 4 | 16.3 |
| Year | 58 | 33 | 28.5 | 62 | 66.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Cloudcroft, NM (8,679 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 Cloudcroft
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 17 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cloudcroft: 9 flash floods, 5 heavy rain events and 3 thunderstorm wind reports. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $300,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 64 mph, on June 23, 2020. September has had the most flash floods, 3 of 9. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 38 have had fewer than Cloudcroft.
June 23, 2009: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Cloudcroft — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “Slow moving thunderstorms dropped nearly 3 inches of rain in the Cloudcroft area, which led to flash flooding in and near the town. Water was over two feet deep in parts of Cloudcroft, resulting in some apartments flooded.”
September 15, 2013: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Cloudcroft — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Highway 244 was closed near Silver Lake with 5 to 6 feet of water over the road. In addition, US Highway 82 and Highway 130 were also closed around Cloudcroft.”
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
Otero County, which includes Cloudcroft, 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.
Cities near Cloudcroft
- Mescalero, NM15 mi
- Alamogordo, NM18 mi
- Tularosa, NM22 mi
- Holloman Afb, NM24 mi
- Ruidoso, NM28 mi
- Ruidoso Downs, NM28 mi
- Alto, NM33 mi
- Capitan, NM56 mi
- Roswell, NM74 mi
- Las Cruces, NM75 mi
- Chaparral, NM76 mi
- Artesia, NM76 mi
All New Mexico cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Cloudcroft with another place →