NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Taos, 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 Taos, New Mexico since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 1 tornado has touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 1
- 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 Taos
The only tornado within 25 miles was an EF0 on August 9, 2018; its path came within 18 miles. Of the 94 New Mexico cities on this site, 85% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Taos. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 1961, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Of the 94 New Mexico cities, 73% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Taos.
Compare Taos's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Taos
By decade
- 2010s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9, 2018 | EF0 | 18 mi | 2.27 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 1 of 1, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Taos
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Taos since 1961. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on August 22, 1961. The most recent report is from June 16, 2015.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Taos
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Taos, NM, 2 miles south of Taos at 6,965 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 53°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 12°F. August is the wettest at 1.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 12.8 inches over 36 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 183 nights a year. Snowfall averages 28.4 inches a year, most of it in December. That 12.8 inches is more than at 34 of the 58 New Mexico stations used on this site (59%). Questa, 22 miles north, has its own station (Cerro, NM): 13.5 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 12 | 0.7 | 2 | 6.0 |
| Feb | 46 | 19 | 0.5 | 2 | 3.3 |
| Mar | 55 | 25 | 0.7 | 3 | 4.0 |
| Apr | 63 | 31 | 0.8 | 2 | 1.9 |
| May | 73 | 37 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 47 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 53 | 1.5 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 51 | 1.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 78 | 45 | 1.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 32 | 1.3 | 3 | 1.4 |
| Nov | 53 | 22 | 0.9 | 2 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 42 | 14 | 1.1 | 3 | 9.0 |
| Year | 65 | 32 | 12.8 | 36 | 28.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Taos, NM (6,965 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 Taos
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 14 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Taos: 11 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $5.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on December 15, 2021.
December 15, 2021: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Taos — $5.0 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
Taos County, which includes Taos, has been named in 10 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 5, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Taos 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 $21.8 million a year, the 14th highest of 33 New Mexico counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.1 million (65%), 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.