NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Moriarty, 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 Moriarty, New Mexico since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 19 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 19
- 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 Moriarty
The highest rating among the 19 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 8, 1989, came within 8 miles. Of the 19, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on September 21, 2024. Moriarty has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 71% of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 36 times since 1960, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Moriarty has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
Compare Moriarty's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Moriarty
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s4
- 2000s2
- 1980s2
- 1970s1
- 1960s3
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 1989 | F1 | 8 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 20, 1956 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 13, 2021 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.17 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2017 | EF0 | 15 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 17, 2016 | EF0 | 18 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 2015 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 21, 2014 | EF0 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2009 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 2008 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 1989 | F0 | 13 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 14, 1976 | F0 | 25 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1966 | F0 | 8 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 19, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Moriarty
The Storm Prediction Center has 36 hail reports within 10 miles of Moriarty since 1960, made on 32 separate days. Of these, 24 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 9, 2025, the most recent report. May and June have the most reports, 9 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Moriarty
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Moriarty 1 NE, NM, 3 miles west of Moriarty at 6,220 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 54°F; January is the coolest, at 45°F and 15°F. July is the wettest at 2.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 12.8 inches over 32 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 34 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 181 nights a year. That 12.8 inches is more than at 33 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (57%). Estancia, 17 miles southwest, has its own station (Estancia 4N, NM): 13.8 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 45 | 15 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Feb | 51 | 19 | 0.4 | 2 |
| Mar | 59 | 24 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Apr | 67 | 30 | 0.6 | 2 |
| May | 76 | 39 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Jun | 86 | 48 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Jul | 88 | 54 | 2.7 | 6 |
| Aug | 85 | 52 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Sep | 80 | 44 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Oct | 69 | 33 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Nov | 56 | 22 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Dec | 45 | 15 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Year | 67 | 33 | 12.8 | 32 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Moriarty 1 NE, NM (6,220 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 Moriarty
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 19 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Moriarty: 14 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 lightning strikes and 2 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $703,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on October 11, 2008.
July 24, 2013: lightning strike in Moriarty — 2 injured, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “A car traveling east bound on Interstate 40 three miles east of Moriarty at mile marker 199 with 4 occupants was struck by lightning. One child and one adult were injured and treated at the scene.”
April 5, 2014: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Moriarty — 1 injured.
NWS: “A man was grazed by a lightning strike 10 feet away while photographing a dust devil near Moriarty. The man survived the shock however no details on the extent of his injuries was reported.”
September 4, 2021: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Moriarty — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “One to two inches of heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in Moriarty. Torrance County Dispatch reported torrential rainfall with a severe thunderstorm crossing Interstate 40 near Moriarty.”
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
Torrance County, which includes Moriarty, has been named in 14 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1985, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 5, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Torrance County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.9 million a year, the 24th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.0 million (68%), 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 Moriarty
- Edgewood, NM12 mi
- Estancia, NM17 mi
- Tijeras, NM18 mi
- Sandia Park, NM21 mi
- Cedar Crest, NM23 mi
- Placitas, NM33 mi
- Algodones, NM36 mi
- Albuquerque, NM36 mi
- Mountainair, NM38 mi
- Bernalillo, NM39 mi
- Corrales, NM39 mi
- Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM40 mi
All New Mexico cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Moriarty with another place →