Lea County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Lea County is lower than New Mexico average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Lea County is higher than New Mexico average and is lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #28
| Lea County | 0.01 |
| New Mexico | 0.39 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #24
| Lea County | 0.0000 |
| New Mexico | 0.0071 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #3
| Lea County | 68.28 |
| New Mexico | 15.39 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 5,556 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Lea County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 0 | Cold: | 0 | Dense Fog: | 1 | Drought: | 22 |
| Dust Storm: | 2 | Flood: | 685 | Hail: | 3,294 | Heat: | 1 | Heavy Snow: | 7 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 2 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 30 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 1,413 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 0 | Winter Storm: | 3 | Winter Weather: | 8 |
| Other: | 88 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Lea County.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Lea County.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Lea County.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 13 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Lea County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 11.8 | 1960-07-24 | 2 | 32°58'N / 103°24'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lea | |||
| 12.1 | 1954-05-17 | 3 | 32°58'N / 103°22'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lea | |||
| 14.5 | 1991-06-06 | 2 | 32°42'N / 103°22'W | 32°38'N / 103°04'W | 17.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lea |
| 17.5 | 1982-05-27 | 2 | 32°42'N / 103°08'W | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Lea | |||
| 19.8 | 1991-06-06 | 2 | 32°38'N / 103°12'W | 32°38'N / 103°04'W | 10.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 5 | 250K | 0 | Lea |
| 19.8 | 1991-06-06 | 2 | 32°38'N / 103°12'W | 32°38'N / 103°04'W | 10.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lea |
| 23.1 | 1991-06-06 | 2 | 32°36'N / 103°08'W | 32°36'N / 103°03'W | 4.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lea |
| 23.9 | 1972-06-14 | 2 | 33°06'N / 103°13'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lea | |||
| 26.8 | 2007-03-23 | 2 | 33°07'N / 103°27'W | 33°15'N / 103°25'W | 8.00 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 28K | 0K | Lea |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: At 4:50 pm MDT, spotters indicated the presence of two wall clouds. Primary indications are that the new wall cloud spawned a second tornado with the supercell thunderstorm 7 1/2 miles west of the community of McDonald, just south of Lea County Road 147. Survey of damage along county road 147 led to an estimation of tornado width of 50 yards at this point. The tornado continued to intensify as it moved northeast. Significant damage was seen 7 1/2 miles southwest of Tatum over ranchland. At this location, 13 wooden power poles were damaged, three snapped off at ground level and others snapped three to twelve feet above ground. A water trough weighing an estimated 300 pounds was thrown from the tornado for several hundred feet. The tornado was visually estimated to be a half mile in width and described as clean in appearance. Damage along this track supports this estimate. It is believed that this tornado lifted just south of N.M. Highway 380, six and a half miles west of Tatum. Spotters also confirmed that the tornado exhibited multiple vortex structure at times during its life cycle. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Around 12:30 pm MDT on Friday, March 23, thunderstorms began to develop over the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County. Thunderstorms continued to rapidly develop, becoming severe over portions of Eddy County at 1:45 pm MDT. Thunderstorms also were developing over eastern portions of Culberson County during this time and these thunderstorms would eventually affect Lea County later in the afternoon. At 3:39 pm MDT, a thunderstorm located in western portions of Lea County just northwest of the community of Halfway began to exhibit supercellular characteristics. This prompted the issuance of a Severe Thunderstorm Warning at 3:42 pm MDT for western portions of Lea county. As the supercell thunderstorm moved northeast at 30 mph, the storm continued to intensify. The presence on radar of an intensifying mesocyclone (storm rotation) and a bounded weak echo region, along with key spotter information relayed into our office through amateur radio Net Control Operations prompted an upgrade to a tornado warning. Spotters indicated a developing wall cloud over the area had become fully formed with increasing surface wind inflow. A tornado warning was issued for northern portions of Lea County at 4:28 pm MDT. | |||||||||||
| 42.9 | 1957-05-15 | 2 | 33°11'N / 102°50'W | 2.00 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Yoakum | |
| 43.2 | 1982-05-12 | 2 | 32°32'N / 102°43'W | 32°45'N / 102°40'W | 15.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 17 | 2.5M | 0 | Gaines |
| 43.9 | 1969-04-19 | 3 | 32°42'N / 102°40'W | 0.10 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Gaines | |
| 45.3 | 1982-05-12 | 2 | 32°25'N / 102°45'W | 32°32'N / 102°43'W | 6.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Andrews |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.