NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Placitas, 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 Placitas, New Mexico since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 29 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 29
- 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 Placitas
The highest rating among the 29 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on September 13, 1988, came within 8 miles. Of the 29, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 14 have come since 2000. May and July have had the most tornadoes, 7 each. The most recent tornado was on August 19, 2025. Placitas has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 84% of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 15 times since 1978, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 94 New Mexico cities, 54% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Placitas.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Placitas
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s3
- 2000s3
- 1990s3
- 1980s4
- 1970s2
- 1960s2
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 13, 1988 | F1 | 8 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1965 | F1 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 20, 1956 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 2021 | EF0 | 8 mi | 0.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 13, 2021 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.17 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 2021 | EF0 | 17 mi | 1.74 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 2020 | EF0 | 18 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | EF0 | 9 mi | 0.04 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 2015 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 3, 2011 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2009 | EF0 | 17 mi | 0.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 2007 | EF0 | 14 mi | 3.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 29, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Placitas
The Storm Prediction Center has 15 hail reports within 10 miles of Placitas since 1978, made on 13 separate days. Of these, 3 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 3 days, most recently November 5, 2016. The most recent report is from August 3, 2020. June and September have the most reports, 3 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Placitas
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Jemez Dam, NM, 8 miles northwest of Placitas at 5,388 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 47°F and 22°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 71 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 125 nights a year. Snowfall averages 5.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 8.8 inches is more than at 3 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (5%). Bernalillo, 6 miles west, has its own station (Rio Rancho #1, NM): 10.4 inches a year, 1.6 more than here, and a July average high of 94°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47 | 22 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.8 |
| Feb | 53 | 25 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Mar | 61 | 33 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.9 |
| Apr | 70 | 39 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.0 |
| May | 79 | 48 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 90 | 58 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 64 | 1.2 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 62 | 1.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 54 | 1.0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 41 | 1.0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 58 | 29 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.3 |
| Dec | 48 | 23 | 0.5 | 2 | 3.0 |
| Year | 70 | 41 | 8.8 | 24 | 5.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Jemez Dam, NM (5,388 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 Placitas
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 36 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Placitas: 23 flash floods, 12 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.4 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, 12 of 23. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 72 have had fewer than Placitas.
July 26, 2018: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Placitas — $1.0 million damage.
July 26, 2013: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Placitas — $250,000 damage.
September 13, 2013: flood 8 miles from the centre of Placitas — $250,000 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
Sandoval County, which includes Placitas, 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 Placitas
- Algodones, NM6 mi
- Bernalillo, NM6 mi
- Corrales, NM11 mi
- Cedar Crest, NM12 mi
- Sandia Park, NM12 mi
- Rio Rancho, NM13 mi
- Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM15 mi
- Albuquerque, NM17 mi
- Tijeras, NM21 mi
- Edgewood, NM21 mi
- Jemez Pueblo, NM28 mi
- Moriarty, NM33 mi
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