Cold/Wind Chill in New Mexico
Every cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in New Mexico, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
The most significant on the map
The most significant cold/wind chill episodes in New Mexico.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 32
- Deaths
- 9
- Injuries
- 0
- Damage
- $50,000
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Cold in New Mexico, January 27, 1997One man was found in Gallup covered in frost and lying in a sleeping position. Another man, found near Shiprock, died of hypothermia or exposure. Overnight low temperature from both Gallup and Farmington was near 32 degrees.
- Cold in New Mexico, January 19, 1997Exposure was listed as the cause of death for a man found near Tsayatoh. Overnight temperatures were in the single digits over a 3 to 5 inch snow cover.
- Cold in New Mexico, January 11, 1997A man from Gamerco died from exposure in west Gallup. Overnight weather was clear and cold with a low of 16 degrees.
- Cold in New Mexico, December 28, 1997A 62 year old Taos woman was found dead in the side yard of her home. The death appeared to be an accidental fall and exposure to subzero temperatures.
- Cold in New Mexico, December 27, 1997A 28 year old woman was found dead. Overnight low temperature at Gallup was -7 degrees.
- Cold in New Mexico, January 31, 2011The third exposure death in the Farmington area of the winter season occurred during the morning of the 31st.
- Cold in New Mexico, February 9, 2011The third exposure death of 2011 in the Gallup area occurred in a wind-swept field about 150 yards east of North Ninth Street on the 9th.
- Cold in New Mexico, January 11, 2011Below zero temperatures in Farmington led to the death of a 47 year old woman. The woman was a transient who was living in a tent in an area located approximately one mile off East Main Street across from Memory Gardens.
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in New Mexico, February 13 to 15, 2021A major and historic winter storm impacted New Mexico over multiple days from February 13th through the morning hours of February 15, 2021.
- Cold in New Mexico, December 8, 2013A bitter cold air mass in place over the area behind an exiting winter storm created plumbing problems for facilities at the Coyote Ranger District office. Temperatures across the area Sunday morning fell into the single digits below zero.
- Cold in New Mexico, December 16 to 18, 1996Frigid arctic air surged into eastern sections of the state producing heavy upslope snow of 4 to 8 inches across the Northeast Highlands from Raton south to Las Vegas.
- Cold in New Mexico, January 7, 2017An exceptionally cold airmass and light to moderate winds settled into New Mexico behind a departing major winter storm. The result was dangerously cold wind chills across much of eastern New Mexico and parts of the Rio Grande Valley.
- Cold in New Mexico, December 22, 2022A potent Arctic airmass surged through eastern NM the night of December 21st through December 22nd bringing near zero to sub-zero temperatures and strong winds.
More
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.