NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Espanola, 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 Espanola, New Mexico since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 6 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 6
- 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 Espanola
The highest rating among the 6 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 15, 1971, came within 24 miles. Of the 6, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 2 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on May 21, 2018. Of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site, 64% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Espanola. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 19 times since 1978, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Espanola has more hail reports within 10 miles than 50% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Espanola
By decade
- 2010s2
- 1990s1
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 1971 | F1 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 26, 1966 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2018 | EF0 | 20 mi | 3.84 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2017 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.31 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1991 | F0 | 23 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1959 | F0 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 6 of 6, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Espanola
The Storm Prediction Center has 19 hail reports within 10 miles of Espanola since 1978, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 12 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on June 5, 1978. The most recent report is from September 21, 2024. May has the most reports, 5.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Espanola
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Alcalde, NM, 7 miles north of Espanola at 5,680 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 55°F; December is the coolest, at 45°F and 15°F. August is the wettest at 1.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 11.2 inches over 30 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 40 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 182 nights a year. Snowfall averages 10.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 11.2 inches is more than at 23 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (40%). Los Alamos, 15 miles southwest, has its own station (Los Alamos, NM): 17.5 inches a year, 6.3 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 45 | 15 | 0.5 | 2 | 2.2 |
| Feb | 51 | 20 | 0.4 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Mar | 60 | 25 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.4 |
| Apr | 67 | 32 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.3 |
| May | 76 | 40 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 48 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 55 | 1.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 86 | 54 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 45 | 1.3 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 32 | 1.1 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 55 | 22 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.4 |
| Dec | 45 | 15 | 0.7 | 2 | 3.3 |
| Year | 67 | 34 | 11.2 | 30 | 10.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Alcalde, NM (5,680 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 Espanola
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 54 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Espanola: 39 flash floods, 10 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $5.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on July 18, 2005. August has had the most flash floods, 15 of 39. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 84 have had fewer than Espanola.
August 2, 2016: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Espanola — 2 injured.
August 22, 2016: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Espanola — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
August 22, 2016: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Espanola — $2.0 million damage.
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 Espanola's ZIP code 87532 have filed 16 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1997, and were paid $173,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 6% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 25 New Mexico cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 3 have fewer than Espanola.
Rio Arriba County, which includes Espanola, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 fires, 4 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was South Fork Fire, Salt Fire, and Flooding, on June 20, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Rio Arriba County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $26.5 million a year, the 13th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.3 million (77%), 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 Espanola
- Ohkay Owingeh, NM6 mi
- Chimayo, NM8 mi
- Alcalde, NM8 mi
- Hernandez, NM9 mi
- Los Alamos, NM15 mi
- Santa Fe, NM27 mi
- Ranchos De Taos, NM35 mi
- Pecos, NM35 mi
- Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM37 mi
- Taos, NM40 mi
- El Prado, NM42 mi
- Jemez Pueblo, NM45 mi
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