New Mexico tornado risk
Curry County has the highest tornado risk in New Mexico, scoring 58.9 out of 100 — rated "Relatively Low" by FEMA's National Risk Index. NOAA has recorded 116 tornado events across New Mexico over the past decade.
| # | County | NRI score | Rating |
NOAA events 2016–2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curry County | 58.9 | Relatively Low | 9 |
| 2 | Bernalillo County | 56.1 | Relatively Low | 5 |
| 3 | Lea County | 54.5 | Relatively Low | 4 |
| 4 | Roosevelt County | 53.5 | Relatively Low | 11 |
| 5 | Eddy County | 27.3 | Relatively Low | 4 |
| 6 | Santa Fe County | 24.5 | Very Low | 3 |
| 7 | Sandoval County | 23.8 | Very Low | 6 |
| 8 | San Juan County | 22.6 | Very Low | 2 |
| 9 | Taos County | 21.7 | Very Low | 1 |
| 10 | Chaves County | 20.6 | Very Low | 8 |
| 11 | Doña Ana County | 20.5 | Very Low | 0 |
| 12 | Valencia County | 19.2 | Very Low | 1 |
| 13 | Colfax County | 16.1 | Very Low | 5 |
| 14 | San Miguel County | 14.8 | Very Low | 5 |
| 15 | Quay County | 13.3 | Very Low | 3 |
| 16 | Union County | 12.4 | Very Low | 9 |
| 17 | Rio Arriba County | 11.7 | Very Low | 0 |
| 18 | Otero County | 11.3 | Very Low | 2 |
| 19 | Lincoln County | 10.3 | Very Low | 8 |
| 20 | Torrance County | 10.1 | Very Low | 7 |
| 21 | Cibola County | 9 | Very Low | 2 |
| 22 | Socorro County | 7.1 | Very Low | 4 |
| 23 | Luna County | 7 | Very Low | 1 |
| 24 | Grant County | 6.9 | Very Low | 0 |
| 25 | Mora County | 4.9 | Very Low | 4 |
| 26 | Guadalupe County | 4.8 | Very Low | 3 |
| 27 | McKinley County | 4.5 | Very Low | 5 |
| 28 | Sierra County | 4.2 | Very Low | 0 |
| 29 | De Baca County | 3.9 | Very Low | 2 |
| 30 | Los Alamos County | 3.8 | Very Low | 0 |
| 31 | Harding County | 3.5 | Very Low | 1 |
| 32 | Hidalgo County | 2.4 | Very Low | 1 |
| 33 | Catron County | 1.4 | Very Low | 0 |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0, December 2025. Scores are 0–100 percentile rankings among all US counties. See the methodology page for definitions. Download the full CSV for all counties.
Tornado risk nationally:
Other hazard risks in New Mexico:
Frequently asked questions
What is the highest tornado risk county in New Mexico?
Curry County, NM has the highest tornado risk in New Mexico, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 58.9 out of 100 (rated "Relatively Low").
What causes tornado risk in New Mexico?
Tornado risk concentrates in the central and southern plains ("Tornado Alley") and the Southeast ("Dixie Alley"), where atmospheric conditions favor supercell thunderstorm development. The highest scores often belong to counties with significant mobile home and manufactured housing stock, which carries disproportionate tornado mortality risk.