Tornadoes · United States · New Mexico

2017 tornadoes in New Mexico

12 tornadoes touched down in New Mexico in 2017, 31 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2016 2018 The whole country in 2017

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in New Mexico in 2017

April 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 145:33 PM MDTEF0De Baca0.540

May 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 86:17 PM MDTEF0Harding0.240

May 9 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 912:15 PM MDTEF0Torrance4.940
May 912:25 PM MDTEF0Santa Fe0.340
May 912:55 PM MDTEF0Lincoln0.130
May 94:00 PM MDTEF0Mora3.550

May 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1012:37 PM MDTEF0Colfax1.750

May 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 216:29 PM MDTEF0Guadalupe2.250

July 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 33:30 PM MDTEF0Curry0.830

July 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 63:30 PM MDTEF0Sandoval0.020

August 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 95:50 PM MDTEF0Mora0.350

September 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 301:55 PM MSTEF0Cibola2.530

Nearby

Every tornado in New Mexico since 1950Warnings in force in New MexicoThe live radar over New Mexico

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.