Strong Wind Risk in New Mexico

All New Mexico counties ranked by FEMA National Risk Index strong wind score

Strong Wind risk — damaging straight-line winds outside of tornadoes and hurricanes — is rated for 33 of 33 New Mexico counties in FEMA's National Risk Index. Chaves County carries the state's highest strong wind score at 95.5, with $2M in expected annual strong wind losses.

1 New Mexico county is rated High or Very High for strong wind, and expected annual losses from strong wind total roughly $10M statewide. The full ranking below links to each county's complete 18-hazard risk profile.

County Rankings — Strong Wind

#CountyStrong Wind ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1 Chaves County
95.5
High 0.53 / yr $2M
2 Eddy County
83.2
Medium 0.60 / yr $1M
3 Lea County
82.2
Medium 1.03 / yr $1M
4 Bernalillo County
79.0
Medium 0.28 / yr $1M
5 Roosevelt County
76.3
Medium 1.15 / yr $999K
6 Doña Ana County
58.0
Medium 0.36 / yr $530K
7 Curry County
57.5
Medium 1.30 / yr $644K
8 Quay County
56.2
Medium 0.99 / yr $428K
9 Sandoval County
39.6
Low 0.20 / yr $353K
10 Otero County
38.4
Low 0.36 / yr $314K
11 Valencia County
27.6
Low 0.27 / yr $209K
12 Santa Fe County
25.8
Low 0.28 / yr $203K
13 San Juan County
23.8
Low 0.06 / yr $133K
14 San Miguel County
22.1
Low 0.29 / yr $127K
15 Colfax County
17.0
Low 0.18 / yr $92K
16 Lincoln County
16.6
Very Low 0.22 / yr $96K
17 Rio Arriba County
12.7
Very Low 0.08 / yr $62K
18 Taos County
10.2
Very Low 0.09 / yr $50K
19 Socorro County
8.8
Very Low 0.18 / yr $35K
20 Union County
8.7
Very Low 0.67 / yr $42K
21 Torrance County
7.9
Very Low 0.27 / yr $35K
22 McKinley County
6.9
Very Low 0.06 / yr $25K
23 Cibola County
6.9
Very Low 0.11 / yr $27K
24 De Baca County
5.7
Very Low 0.47 / yr $31K
25 Guadalupe County
4.4
Very Low 0.30 / yr $19K
26 Sierra County
4.1
Very Low 0.19 / yr $15K
27 Luna County
3.9
Very Low 0.21 / yr $15K
28 Grant County
3.8
Very Low 0.14 / yr $14K
29 Los Alamos County
3.0
Very Low 0.19 / yr $29K
30 Mora County
2.7
Very Low 0.17 / yr $8K
31 Harding County
2.2
Very Low 0.52 / yr $8K
32 Hidalgo County
1.6
Very Low 0.18 / yr $4K
33 Catron County
1.3
Very Low 0.05 / yr $2K

33 New Mexico counties with measurable strong wind risk. See the national strong wind ranking or all New Mexico counties by overall risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which New Mexico county has the highest strong wind risk?

Chaves County has the highest FEMA strong wind risk score in New Mexico at 95.5 (High), with $2M in expected annual losses and about 0.53 events per year.

How many New Mexico counties face significant strong wind risk?

33 New Mexico counties record measurable strong wind risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 1 of them are rated High or Very High.

Other Hazards in New Mexico