NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Silver City, 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
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Silver City, New Mexico since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1929. Since 1950, 6 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 6
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Silver City
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Silver City; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1929, a tropical storm with 39 mph winds when its centre passed 13 miles away. Silver City is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 94 New Mexico cities on this site. The strongest of the 6 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on October 12, 1957; its path came within 10 miles. Of the 6, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on September 6, 2007. Of the 94 New Mexico cities, 64% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Silver City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 25 times since 1974, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Silver City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 57% of the 94 New Mexico cities.
Compare Silver City's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Silver City
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormJun 30 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Silver City: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Silver City
By decade
- 2000s1
- 1980s1
- 1970s2
- 1960s1
- 1950s1(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12, 1957 | F3 | 10 mi | 8.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 13, 1989 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 19, 1979 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1967 | F1 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 6, 2007 | EF0 | 12 mi | 3.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1979 | F0 | 9 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 Silver City
The Storm Prediction Center has 25 hail reports within 10 miles of Silver City since 1974, made on 20 separate days. Of these, 11 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently September 11, 2002. The most recent report is from September 25, 2025. September has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Silver City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fort Bayard, NM, 10 miles northeast of Silver City at 6,099 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 64°F; December is the coolest, at 55°F and 30°F. July is the wettest at 3.9 inches of precipitation on average and April the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 16.2 inches over 40 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 33 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 93 nights a year. That 16.2 inches is more than at 50 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (86%). Lordsburg, 37 miles southwest, has its own station (Lordsburg 4 SE, NM): 11.4 inches a year, 4.8 less than here, and a July average high of 99°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 56 | 32 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Feb | 59 | 34 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Mar | 66 | 38 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Apr | 73 | 43 | 0.3 | 1 |
| May | 80 | 50 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Jun | 90 | 60 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Jul | 88 | 64 | 3.9 | 8 |
| Aug | 87 | 63 | 2.9 | 7 |
| Sep | 83 | 58 | 2.1 | 4 |
| Oct | 74 | 47 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Nov | 64 | 37 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Dec | 55 | 30 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Year | 73 | 46 | 16.2 | 40 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Fort Bayard, NM (6,099 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 Silver City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 29 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Silver City: 20 flash floods, 6 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 2 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $49,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on September 13, 1999. August has had the most flash floods, 8 of 20. Of the 92 New Mexico cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 65 have had fewer than Silver City.
September 30, 2017: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Silver City — 2 killed.
NWS: “5 inches occurred around Silver City in the early morning hours. A water rescue was necessary in Tyrone.”
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
Grant County, which includes Silver City, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 4 fires, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 5, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Grant County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $20.8 million a year, the 18th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.9 million (72%), 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 Silver City
- Bayard, NM12 mi
- Lordsburg, NM37 mi
- Deming, NM49 mi
- Hatch, NM67 mi
- Truth Or Consequences, NM71 mi
- Safford, AZ81 mi
- Thatcher, AZ85 mi
- Pima, AZ91 mi
- Las Cruces, NM94 mi
- Willcox, AZ96 mi
- La Mesa, NM100 mi
- Mesquite, NM104 mi
All New Mexico cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Silver City with another place →