Catron County, NM: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10

Summary

Plan status as of 2026-09-30: Expired on 2025-01-01. Plan: Catron County (FEMA plan 100836), approved 2020-01-02.

Since the plan was approved on 2020-01-02: no new hazard declaration; 2 COVID-19 declarations (not counted).

NOAA Storm Events records since that date: 159 records (data through 2026-06-30).

Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Wildfire ($3,143,343 a year), Inland Flooding ($2,970,202) and Lightning ($489,667).

Repetitive-loss flood properties now: FMA RL 0, SRL 0 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 0.

The tables that follow are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); each heading says which item its tables support.

Terms used

EAL:: expected annual loss: FEMA's modeled average yearly loss from a hazard.
NRI:: FEMA's National Risk Index (version 1.20, December 2025).
NFIP:: National Flood Insurance Program.
RL, SRL:: repetitive loss and severe repetitive loss: flood-insured properties with repeated claims (definitions in B2-c).
FMA, HMGP:: Flood Mitigation Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, FEMA mitigation grants.
PA:: FEMA Public Assistance: disaster aid to governments and some nonprofits.
Zone-level:: NOAA logged the event for a National Weather Service forecast zone, which may include parts of neighboring counties.
County-coded:: NOAA logged the event to this county.
FIPS:: the federal code for a place; 35003 is this area.
D0 to D4:: U.S. Drought Monitor categories, from abnormally dry (D0) to exceptional drought (D4).
F/EF, EFU:: Fujita and Enhanced Fujita tornado ratings; EFU is an unrated tornado.
kt, CONUS:: knots (1 kt is about 1.15 mph); the contiguous United States.
CFR:: Code of Federal Regulations.
A4-a, E1-a:: other items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool (sources, and changes since the last plan).
Dollars:: nominal (as reported, labeled with the year), not adjusted for inflation.

Plan clock

Status:: Expired on 2025-01-01
Plan:: Catron County (FEMA plan 100836)
Approved:: 2020-01-02
Days since expiry:: 637
Update underway:: none recorded in FEMA's plan tracker

Until a new plan is approved, FEMA mitigation project grants (HMGP, FMA) need a FEMA exception (44 CFR 201.6(a)(3)).

What changed since your last plan (approved 2020-01-02)

New federal declarations:: no new hazard declaration; 2 COVID-19 declarations (not counted)
Storm Events records since approval:: 159 records (data through 2026-06-30)
Repetitive loss now:: FMA RL 0, SRL 0 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 0
Repeat-flood change:: this release sets the baseline count.

Sources: 1, 2, 4, 6 (numbered list at the end)

Plan status for every jurisdiction listed in this county

Source: 1

Jurisdiction	Type	Status	Plan	Approved	Expires	Days to expirynegative = days since expiry
Catron County	County	Expired on 2025-01-01	Catron County (FEMA plan 100836)	2020-01-02	2025-01-01	-637

State plan status and tribal plans in this state: see the state page.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a: hazard identification

Hazards NRI does not cover (local data needed)

dam failure (incl. upstream dams)
levee failure
flash flood as its own subtype
ice jams
debris flows
erosion (riverine and coastal)
land subsidence and sinkholes
expansive soils

The 18 National Risk Index hazards, ranked by expected annual loss (EAL)

Sources: 5, 6

Rank by EAL	Hazard	NRI risk rating	EAL rating	EAL buildingsmodeled dollars per year	EAL agriculturemodeled dollars per year	Cost of expected deaths and injuriesFEMA's dollar value per year, not property damage	EAL total (see note)modeled dollars per year	Storm Events records, 1996 to 2026-06-30count	Storm Events coverage note
1	Wildfire	Relatively Moderate	Relatively Moderate	$3,059,609	$304	$83,430	$3,143,343	14
2	Inland Flooding	Relatively Low	Very Low	$2,963,709	$0	$6,493	$2,970,202	41
3	Lightning	Relatively High	Relatively Moderate	$381	n/a	$489,286	$489,667	1
4	Cold Wave	Very Low	Very Low	$447	$384	$101,924	$102,756	1
5	Landslide	Relatively Moderate	Relatively Low	$9,836	n/a	$48,983	$58,818	0	Declared 1 time; no Storm Events record of this type.
6	Winter Weather	Relatively Low	Relatively Low	$1,007	$140	$20,397	$21,544	45
7	Earthquake	Very Low	Very Low	$19,855	n/a	$1,526	$21,382		Storm Events does not record earthquakes.
8	Heat Wave	Very Low	Very Low	$2	$221	$7,246	$7,469	0	No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).
9	Drought	Very Low	Very Low	n/a	$6,232	n/a	$6,232	114
10	Hail	Very Low	Very Low	$2,319	$357	$382	$3,058	13
11	Strong Wind	Very Low	Very Low	$1,175	$28	$947	$2,150	52	Includes 49 High Wind records (a NOAA non-thunderstorm wind type, outside NRI's Strong Wind definition).
12	Tornado	Very Low	Very Low	$221	$3	$550	$774	0	No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).
13	Ice Storm	Very Low	Very Low	$61	n/a	$485	$546	0	No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).
14	Avalanche	Very Low	Very Low	$2	n/a	$366	$368	0	No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).
15	Volcanic Activity	Very Low	Very Low	$1	n/a	$2	$3	0	No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).
16	Hurricane	No Rating	No Expected Annual Losses	$0	$0	$0	$0	0	No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).

Total = buildings + agriculture + population equivalence; FEMA values each expected death (or 10 injuries) at $13.7 million (2024 dollars).

NRI risk rating combines expected annual loss with social vulnerability and community resilience; EAL rating rates expected annual loss alone. Both compare this county with all U.S. counties.

Local data needed: state and local landslide and volcanic activity records (Storm Events records these hazards only in part).

Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: coastal flooding and tsunami. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.

The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b: hazard location

Affects the whole county (national data give no location within it): Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather.

Inland Flooding: The FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.

Hazards that vary within the county: highest-rated census tracts

Source: 5

Hazard	Highest-rated census tractsNRI risk rating, score 0 to 100
Avalanche	tract 9764.01 (Very Low, 38.9); tract 9764.02 (Very Low, 37.8)
Earthquake	tract 9764.02 (Relatively Low, 46.3); tract 9764.01 (Very Low, 23.9)
Hurricane	no tract has a National Risk Index rating for this hazard
Landslide	tract 9764.01 (Relatively High, 99.4); tract 9764.02 (Relatively Moderate, 99.3)
Tornado	tract 9764.01 (Very Low, 2.3); tract 9764.02 (Very Low, 2.1)
Volcanic Activity	tract 9764.02 (Very Low, 79.2); tract 9764.01 (Very Low, 45.4)
Wildfire	tract 9764.01 (Very High, 99.8); tract 9764.02 (Very High, 99.3)

Up to 3 census tracts per hazard, highest National Risk Index rating first, then highest score; a tract number is the Census tract number (for example 9764.01 is Census Tract 9764.01). FEMA's Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool maps the National Risk Index for every tract: https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/resilience-analysis-and-planning-tool

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c: hazard extent

Extent: scale, observed range and worst recorded event per hazard

Sources: 6, 7

Hazard	Scale	Recordscount and years	Observed range	Worst recorded event	Most damaging (when different)	How it applies to jurisdictions	Note
Avalanche	none (count and damage only)	0					Physical measure: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Cold/Wind Chill, Extreme Cold/Wind Chill	wind chill	1 record, 2025 (1 zone-level)	1 day; 1 with a recorded value	1 consecutive day, 2025-01-21, zone-level		Countywide (zone-level records).	Wind chill: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Frost/Freeze (outside NRI's Cold Wave definition)	crop damage	0					Temperature: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Drought	U.S. Drought Monitor scale (D0 to D4)	114 records, 2011 to 2026 (114 zone-level)	153 days to 1,051 days (median 515 days); 7 with a recorded value	1051 days (about 34.5 months), 2019-10-16 to 2022-08-31, a run of 35 consecutive Storm Events drought records, zone-level		Countywide (zone-level records).	Storm Events enters a drought at D2 or worse east of the Rockies and D3 or worse from the Rockies west (NWS Instruction 10-1605); NRI drought counts D3 and D4 only.
Earthquake	Modified Mercalli (local data)	0					Storm Events does not record earthquakes; the USGS earthquake catalog is the source.
Hail	hail size (inches)	14 records, 1967 to 2018	0.75 in to 1.75 in (median 1 in); 14 with a recorded value	1.75 in hail, 2015-10-20	Hail, 1999-09-13, $3,000 property; crops not reported (1999 dollars)	No event record names a jurisdiction in the plan.
Excessive Heat, Heat	heat index (in event narratives)	0					Heat index: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Hurricane, Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression	Saffir-Simpson	0					Storm Events files every zone of a storm's episode under the storm's type; flooding from the storm is filed as Flood or Flash Flood records.
Ice Storm	Sperry-Piltz ice scale (local data)	0					Ice thickness: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Flash Flood, Flood, Lakeshore Flood	damage and flood days (flood depth: FIRM)	41 records, 1997 to 2021		Flash Flood, 2013-09-14, $1,500,000 property; $0 crops (2013 dollars), 1 direct death		No event record names a jurisdiction in the plan.	Flood depth: see the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map. Storm Events damage is often $0 or blank for floods, major ones included; FEMA Public Assistance by declaration (B1-d) shows which floods cost the most.
Debris Flow	none (count and damage only)	0					Physical measure: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Lightning	annualized frequency (the measure FEMA's Local Mitigation Planning Handbook names)	1 record, 2009		Lightning, 2009-08-30, $1,000 property; $0 crops (2009 dollars), 1 direct death		No event record names a jurisdiction in the plan.	Storm Events lists lightning with damage or casualties; physical measure in event narratives only (local data needed).
High Wind and Strong Wind (outside NRI's Strong Wind definition)	wind speed (kt and mph)	49 records, 2016 to 2026 (49 zone-level)	38 kt (44 mph) to 83 kt (96 mph) (median 56 kt (64 mph)); 49 with a recorded value	83 kt (96 mph) measured gust, High Wind, 2023-02-26; NWS zone NMZ208	High Wind, 2022-04-22, $25,000 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2022 dollars)	Countywide (zone-level records).
Thunderstorm Wind	wind speed (kt and mph)	5 records, 1971 to 2024	50 kt (58 mph) to 56 kt (64 mph) (median 52 kt (60 mph)); 4 with a recorded value	56 kt (64 mph) measured gust, Thunderstorm Wind, 2022-06-16	Thunderstorm Wind, 2024-06-29, $75,000 property; $0 crops (2024 dollars)	No event record names a jurisdiction in the plan.
Tornado	Enhanced Fujita (Fujita before Feb 2007)	0					Before 1996 a tornado is listed once, under the county where it began, with its whole path's rating and length; from 1996 on, each county lists its own segment. Length is not used to rank tornadoes (see Methods).
Volcanic Ash, Volcanic Ashfall	Volcanic Explosivity Index (local data)	0					Physical measure: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Wildfire	acres burned (local data)	14 records, 2002 to 2026 (13 zone-level)		No damage reported in 14 records.		No event record names a jurisdiction in the plan. Zone-level records (13) apply countywide.	Acres burned: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Winter Storm, Heavy Snow, Blizzard, Lake-Effect Snow, Winter Weather, Sleet	none in data (snowfall: local data)	45 records, 2010 to 2026 (45 zone-level)		Heavy Snow, 2024-01-04, $50,000 property; $0 crops (2024 dollars); NWS zone NMZ206		Countywide (zone-level records).	Snow depth: in event narratives only (local data needed).

Storm Events records are more complete after 1996; before 1996 only Tornado (from 1950), Hail and Thunderstorm Wind (from 1955) exist. Zone-level records whose zone no NWS zone-county file places in this county (mostly before 2020) are not counted here (the Methods page explains the zone matching).

Dollars are nominal (as reported), labeled with the year; not adjusted for inflation.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d: previous occurrences

Federal declarations for this county: 12 declarations covering 9 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet (declarations for the same incident count once; non-natural and evacuation-only declarations are not counted).

Federal disaster declarations for this county

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Declared	Incident began	FEMA number	Type	Title	Mapped hazard	County Public Assistancefederal share obligated, nominal dollars	Flags	Notes
2020-04-05	2020-01-20	DR-4529-NM	Major disaster	COVID-19 Pandemic	Non-natural, not counted	no Public Assistance recorded	new since last plan
2020-03-13	2020-01-20	EM-3460-NM	Emergency	COVID-19	Non-natural, not counted	no Public Assistance recorded	new since last plan	same incident as DR-4529
2013-10-29	2013-09-09	DR-4152-NM	Major disaster	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides	Inland Flooding (primary); also designated: Landslide	$653,772.35
2012-05-26	2012-05-23	FM-2978-NM	Fire management	Whitewater-Baldy Fire Complex	Wildfire	no Public Assistance recorded
2011-06-10	2011-06-10	FM-2917-NM	Fire management	Wallow Fire	Wildfire	no Public Assistance recorded
2005-09-07	2005-08-29	EM-3229-NM	Emergency	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Hurricane: evacuation support, not a local hazard event; not counted	no Public Assistance recorded
2000-05-10	2000-05-05	EM-3154-NM	Emergency	Severe Fire Threats	Wildfire	no Public Assistance recorded
1993-06-07	1993-01-05	DR-992-NM	Major disaster	Severe Storms & Flooding	Inland Flooding	no Public Assistance recorded
1985-01-18	1985-01-18	DR-731-NM	Major disaster	Severe Storms & Flooding	Inland Flooding	no Public Assistance recorded
1983-10-24	1983-09-18	DR-692-NM	Major disaster	Severe Storms and Flooding	Inland Flooding	no Public Assistance recorded
1979-01-29	1979-01-29	DR-571-NM	Major disaster	Flooding	Inland Flooding	no Public Assistance recorded
1972-11-20	1972-11-20	DR-361-NM	Major disaster	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Inland Flooding	no Public Assistance recorded

County Public Assistance: applicants the FEMA record places in this county, including any state agencies FEMA files there; statewide rows are listed on the state page; federal share obligated, nominal dollars.

Statewide declarations

Source: 2

Declared	Incident began	FEMA number	Type	Title	Mapped hazard
1998-07-02	1998-06-29	EM-3128-NM	Emergency	Extreme Fire Hazards	Wildfire
1955-08-15	1955-08-15	DR-38-NM	Major disaster	Flood	Inland Flooding
1954-10-13	1954-10-13	DR-27-NM	Major disaster	Flood	Inland Flooding

FEMA recorded these with designated area Statewide and no county, so they are listed on every county page in the state and not counted with county rows. Local data needed: whether each one affected this county.

5 Fire Management declarations (1974-05-21 to 2003-05-10) FEMA filed as Statewide with no county; each names one local fire. Listed on the state page.

Public Assistance not placed in any New Mexico county: 1 row, $6,157.13; listed on the New Mexico state page.

Source: 3

Previous occurrences by hazard, with explicit no-event rows

Sources: 2, 6, 7

Hazard	Storm Events records, all years on file(years in the Period column)	Since plan approvalrecords	In the 12 months before plan approvalrecords	Last 5 yearsrecords	Declared incidents, all yearsseparate disasters	Period	Statement
Avalanche	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Cold Wave	1	1	0	1	0	1996 to 2026-06-30
Drought	114	57	4	37	0	1996 to 2026-06-30
Earthquake	0	0	0	0	0		Storm Events does not record earthquakes; the USGS earthquake catalog is the source.
Hail	14	0	0	0	0	1955 to 2026-06-30
Heat Wave	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Hurricane	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Ice Storm	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Inland Flooding	41	3	0	0	6	1996 to 2026-06-30
Landslide	0	0	0	0	1	1996 to 2026-06-30	No Storm Events records of this type; 1 federal declared incident (see declarations table)
Lightning	1	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30
Strong Wind	54	51	0	46	0	1955 to 2026-06-30	Includes 49 High Wind records.
Tornado	0	0	0	0	0	1950 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1950 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Volcanic Activity	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Wildfire	14	13	0	13	3	1996 to 2026-06-30
Winter Weather	45	34	3	27	0	1996 to 2026-06-30

Notable Storm Events records

Sources: 1, 6, 7

Date	Event type	Magnitude or extent	Damagenominal dollars	Deaths, injuriesdirect only	Location	Flags	Why listed
2025-01-21	Extreme Cold/Wind Chill		damage not reported	0, 0	NWS zone NMZ205 (WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU), zone-level	new since last plan; within last 5 years	B1-c worst recorded: Cold/Wind Chill, Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
2024-06-29	Thunderstorm Wind	50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust	$75,000 property; $0 crops (2024 dollars)	0, 0	QUEMADO	new since last plan; within last 5 years	B1-c most damaging: Thunderstorm Wind
2024-01-04	Heavy Snow		$50,000 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2024 dollars)	0, 0	NWS zone NMZ206 (WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS), zone-level	new since last plan; within last 5 years	B1-c worst recorded: Winter Storm, Heavy Snow, Blizzard, Lake-Effect Snow, Winter Weather, Sleet
2023-02-26	High Wind	83 kt (96 mph) measured gust	damage not reported	0, 0	NWS zone NMZ208 (SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS), zone-level	new since last plan; within last 5 years	B1-c worst recorded: High Wind and Strong Wind
2022-06-16	Thunderstorm Wind	56 kt (64 mph) measured gust	$0 property; $0 crops (2022 dollars)	0, 0	HORSE SPGS	new since last plan; within last 5 years	B1-c worst recorded: Thunderstorm Wind
2022-04-22	High Wind	61 kt (70 mph) measured gust	$25,000 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2022 dollars)	0, 0	NWS zone NMZ205 (WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU), zone-level	new since last plan; within last 5 years	B1-c most damaging: High Wind and Strong Wind
2019-10-16	Drought		damage not reported	0, 0	NWS zone NMZ205 (WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU), zone-level	in the 12 months before plan approval	B1-c worst recorded: Drought
2015-10-20	Hail	1.75 in	$0 property; $0 crops (2015 dollars)	0, 0	PLEASANTON		B1-c worst recorded: Hail
2013-09-14	Flash Flood		$1,500,000 property; $0 crops (2013 dollars)	1, 0	MOGOLLON		deaths or injuries recorded
2013-09-14	Flash Flood		$1,000,000 property; $0 crops (2013 dollars)	0, 0	PLEASANTON to ALMA		large reported damage
2009-08-30	Lightning		$1,000 property; $0 crops (2009 dollars)	1, 0	QUEMADO		deaths or injuries recorded
1999-09-13	Hail	0.88 in	$3,000 property; crops not reported (1999 dollars)	0, 0	DATIL		B1-c most damaging: Hail

The full list is in the Excel file, sheet "B1-d Storm Events history" (284 rows).

Location is the place NOAA recorded, as written in its data; it need not be a jurisdiction in this plan.

Local data needed: state-declared emergencies, from your state emergency management agency (federal data do not include them).

Tribal and special-area declarations in this state are listed on the state page.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e: probability of future events

Probability: FEMA annualized frequency and descriptor per hazard

Sources: 5, 6

Hazard	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)unit per row	Unit	In plain terms	Descriptor	Descriptor basis	NRI events or days in its record period (hail, wind and tornado are area-weighted, so can be fractional)	NRI period	Location	Note
Avalanche	0.01	events per year	about 1 in 100 years	Possible	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	0	1994 to 2023 (30 years)	see B1-f	0.01 is NRI's minimum avalanche frequency for a county in an avalanche susceptibility zone; NRI records no avalanche here, so the descriptor reflects the floor, not local events.
Cold Wave	0.0525	event-days per year	about 0.0525 days per year	Possible (from Storm Events: 1 of 30 years)	event-days in 1 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (3.33%)	0.997	2005-11-12 to 2024-11-12 (19 years)	countywide
Drought	106	event-days per year	about 106 days per year	Likely (from Storm Events: 13 of 30 years)	event-days in 13 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (43.3%)	2,835	2000 to 2025 (25.25 years; D3 and D4 only)	countywide
Earthquake	0.00194	annual probability at a location	chance a given location in the county has at least minor-damage shaking in a year: 0.194%			not shown	modeled	see B1-f	No descriptor (Storm Events does not record earthquakes).
Hail	0.089	events per year	about 1 in 11 years	Possible	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	3.4 (modeled)	1986 to 2023 (38 years)	countywide
Heat Wave	0.392	event-days per year	about 0.392 days per year		event-days in 0 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (0%)	7.44	2005-11-12 to 2024-11-12 (19 years)	countywide	No Storm Events heat wave record, 1996 to 2025
Hurricane	0.000946	events per year	about 1 in 1,057 years	Unlikely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	3	1851 to 2024 (Atlantic)	see B1-f	NRI counts hurricane and tropical storm tracks passing within storm-force wind range; federal declarations are in B1-d.
Ice Storm	0.0149	event-days per year	about 0.0149 days per year		event-days in 0 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (0%)	0	1946-12-31 to 2014-02-12 (67 years)	countywide	No Storm Events ice storm record, 1996 to 2025
Inland Flooding	1.14	event-days per year	about 1.14 days per year	Likely (from Storm Events: 16 of 30 years)	event-days in 16 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (53.3%)	32	1996 to 2023 (28 years)	see B1-f
Landslide	2.84	events per year (modeled)	about 2.84 per year	Highly likely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	modeled	see B1-f
Lightning	64.9	days per year with a strike	about 64.9 days per year	Highly likely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	1995 to 2023 (29 years; CONUS)	countywide
Strong Wind	0.0464	events per year	about 1 in 22 years	Possible	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	2	1986 to 2023 (38 years)	countywide
Tornado	0.0603	events per year	about 1 in 17 years	Possible	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	1950 to 2023 (EF2+); 1986 to 2023 (EF0-1)	see B1-f
Volcanic Activity	0.0002	annual probability	about 1 in 5,000 years	Unlikely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	modeled	see B1-f
Wildfire	0.0102	annual probability at a location	chance a given location in the county burns in a year: 1.02%	Likely (from Storm Events: 3 of 30 years)	Storm Events records in 3 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (10%)	not shown	modeled	see B1-f	Descriptor from Storm Events, not NRI.
Winter Weather	12.5	event-days per year	about 12.5 days per year	Likely (from Storm Events: 10 of 30 years)	event-days in 10 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (33.3%)	238	2005-11-12 to 2024-11-12 (19 years)	countywide

FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) is the National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025) estimate of how often a hazard affects this county in a year; it is not recorded events divided by years, and its unit differs by hazard (events, event-days, or days with a lightning strike per year). For earthquake, wildfire, coastal flooding and tsunami the value is the chance (or number of events) at a location in the county, not across the county, so no "1 in N years" is given and the descriptor comes from Storm Events where it has a record (none for earthquake). The Methods page gives each hazard's method, from FEMA's National Risk Index Technical Documentation v1.20.

Where NRI gives event-days, the descriptor comes from the share of years with a Storm Events record; NRI's source records more events, so the two differ.

Descriptor scale used in this packet (defined per unit)

Sources: 5, 6

Unit	Descriptor	Definition
events per year	Highly likely	1 or more per year
events per year	Likely	about once in 1 to 10 years
events per year	Possible	about once in 10 to 100 years
events per year	Unlikely	less than once in 100 years
annual probability	Likely	10% to under 100% chance in a given year
annual probability	Possible	1% to under 10% chance in a given year
annual probability	Unlikely	under 1% chance in a given year
event-days (share of years)	Highly likely	event-days recorded in 90% or more of years
event-days (share of years)	Likely	event-days recorded in 10% to under 90% of years
event-days (share of years)	Possible	event-days recorded in some years but under 10% of years
lightning strike-days	Highly likely	cloud-to-ground strikes on 1 or more days per year

Intensity bands: historical frequency (Storm Events)

Source: 6

Hazard	Band	Years	Eventscounty-coded records	Years in period	Events per yearevents / years
Hail	1.00-1.99 in	1996 to 2025	7	30	0.233
Hail	2.00 in+	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Thunderstorm Wind (counted as NRI Strong Wind)	50-64 kt	1996 to 2025	3	30	0.1
Thunderstorm Wind (counted as NRI Strong Wind)	65 kt+	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Thunderstorm Wind (counted as NRI Strong Wind)	unmeasured or below 50 kt	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Tornado	EF0-1	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Tornado	EF2-3	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Tornado	EF4-5	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Tornado	unrated (EFU)	1996 to 2025	0	30	0

The bands show how often events of each severity were recorded in this county, to profile how severe events have been (FEMA's probability item asks for the range of intensities).

Hail smaller than 1 inch is not counted: on 2010-01-05 the National Weather Service raised its severe-hail threshold from 3/4 inch to 1 inch, so smaller reports became less common after 2009 (NWS Service Change Notice 09-52). NRI hail frequency uses a 0.75 inch threshold.

Optional: future conditions. Not a required item in the 2025 FEMA Local Mitigation Planning Policy Guide; some states ask for it. The federal Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) site gives county exposure to future climate conditions (https://resilience.climate.gov/).

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f: hazards that vary across jurisdictions

Range of census tract risk within the county

Source: 5

Hazard	Tractsrated of all	NRI risk score, 0 to 100			Tracts by rating
Hazard	Tractsrated of all	Min	Median	Max	Tracts by rating
Avalanche	2 of 2	37.8	38.3	38.9	Very Low 2
Cold Wave	2 of 2	60.3	62.0	63.6	Relatively Moderate 2
Drought	1 of 2	88.0	88.0	88.0	Relatively Low 1, No Rating 1
Earthquake	2 of 2	23.9	35.1	46.3	Relatively Low 1, Very Low 1
Hail	2 of 2	29.4	32.4	35.5	Very Low 2
Heat Wave	2 of 2	6.0	7.3	8.5	Very Low 2
Hurricane	0 of 2				No Rating 2
Ice Storm	2 of 2	4.4	4.7	5.1	Very Low 2
Inland Flooding	2 of 2	85.7	92.2	98.8	Very High 1, Relatively High 1
Landslide	2 of 2	99.3	99.3	99.4	Relatively High 1, Relatively Moderate 1
Lightning	2 of 2	99.9	99.9	99.9	Very High 2
Strong Wind	2 of 2	8.5	12.3	16.1	Very Low 2
Tornado	2 of 2	2.1	2.2	2.3	Very Low 2
Volcanic Activity	2 of 2	45.4	62.3	79.2	Very Low 2
Wildfire	2 of 2	99.3	99.5	99.8	Very High 2
Winter Weather	2 of 2	86.0	89.6	93.2	Relatively High 2

Drought: Agriculture is all of NRI's expected annual loss for this hazard in the county, so the tract range mostly reflects where crop and livestock value is.

Rated tracts only: No Rating (score 0.0), Not Applicable and Insufficient Data tracts are counted but not used for the minimum, median and maximum.

The score ranks a tract against all U.S. tracts (100 = highest). The rating is FEMA's category for the tract's risk value, computed differently, so the two can disagree.

Frequency data for cold wave, drought, hail, heat wave, ice storm, lightning, strong wind and winter weather are county-wide or coarse (49 km grid or NWS zone), the same for every jurisdiction; the tract range mostly reflects where buildings and people are (crop and livestock value where a line above names agriculture).

This county has 2 census tracts; the minimum, median and maximum come from those 2.

Each jurisdiction (starting figures from federal data)

Sources: 1, 3, 4, 6

Jurisdiction	Type	Plan status	Repetitive lossFMA RL and SRL (44 CFR 77.2); repeat-flood, any definition	Public Assistance to this jurisdictionFEMA records matched by applicant name; federal share obligated, nominal dollars	Event records naming this placeall years; since its plan
Catron County	County	Expired on 2025-01-01	FMA RL 0, SRL 0; any 0	$653,772.35	0 total; 0 since its plan

Repetitive-loss counts are for whole NFIP communities, which can extend beyond this county (see the note in B2-c).

Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b: vulnerability and potential impacts

Local data needed

The table below gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.

Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
Future assets

County-level starter: exposure, expected annual loss and damage since the plan

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

Hazard	Building exposuremodeled dollars	Agriculture exposuremodeled dollars	Population exposedpeople	EAL buildingsmodeled dollars per year	EAL agriculturemodeled dollars per year	Cost of expected deaths and injuriesFEMA's dollar value per year, not property damage	EAL as % of exposurebuildings; agriculture where noted	Storm Events damage since 2020-01-02county-coded records, property plus crops, nominal dollars	Zone-level damage since planproperty plus crops, reported for the zone	Note
Avalanche	$3,346,371	n/a	1	$2	n/a	$366	under 0.0001%
Cold Wave	$1,400,306,830	$12,194,412	3,552	$447	$384	$101,924	under 0.0001%
Drought	n/a	$84,129	n/a	n/a	$6,232	n/a	7.41% (agriculture)		$0	NRI has no building exposure for this hazard; agriculture shown
Earthquake	$2,311,131,855	n/a	3,579	$19,855	n/a	$1,526	0.000859%
Hail	$1,401,268,053	$12,194,412	3,556	$2,319	$357	$382	0.000165%
Heat Wave	$1,401,268,053	$12,194,412	3,556	$2	$221	$7,246	under 0.0001%
Hurricane	$1,259,811,708	$9,869,653	3,252	$0	$0	$0	0%
Ice Storm	$1,401,268,053	n/a	3,556	$61	n/a	$485	under 0.0001%
Inland Flooding	$1,400,745,620	$0	4	$2,963,709	$0	$6,493	n/a (see note)	$270,000		NRI counts the full building value of any census block with some flood loss; this is not the value of buildings in the floodplain. Use local FIRM overlays for B2-a/B2-b.
Landslide	$91,377,070	n/a	190	$9,836	n/a	$48,983	0.0108%
Lightning	$1,401,268,053	n/a	3,556	$381	n/a	$489,286	under 0.0001%
Strong Wind	$1,401,268,053	$12,194,412	3,556	$1,175	$28	$947	under 0.0001%	$75,000	$46,000	Storm Events damage since the plan includes 3 zone-level High Wind records ($46,000): a NOAA non-thunderstorm wind type, outside NRI's Strong Wind definition.
Tornado	$1,401,268,053	$12,194,412	3,556	$221	$3	$550	under 0.0001%
Volcanic Activity	$1,401,268,053	n/a	3,556	$1	n/a	$2	under 0.0001%
Wildfire	$962,467,634	$10,871,682	2,949	$3,059,609	$304	$83,430	0.318%		$0
Winter Weather	$1,401,268,053	$12,194,412	3,556	$1,007	$140	$20,397	under 0.0001%		$75,000

Totals since 2020-01-02 (Storm Events through 2026-06-30): 6 county-coded records, 6 with a damage value recorded (including $0), $345,000; 153 zone-level records, 80 with a damage value recorded (including $0), $121,000 reported for the zone; Public Assistance: no counted declaration since the plan.

FEMA does not split Public Assistance by hazard. A declaration mapped to several hazards is listed under each of them with its full amount, so the per-hazard column does not add up to the total; the unit total counts each declaration once.

NRI computes earthquake exposure on its own basis, so it exceeds the county building value in B2-a.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a: vulnerability (county context)

County context

Source: 5

Measure	Value
Population	3,556
Building value (total, not at risk)	$1,401,268,053
Agriculture value (total, not at risk)	$12,194,412
NRI risk rating (all hazards)	Very Low
Expected annual loss, buildings and agriculture, all hazards	$6,066,294
Expected annual loss, population equivalence, all hazards (NRI values each statistical life at $13.7M; a modeled value of expected deaths and injuries, not property damage)	$762,017
Social vulnerability rating	Very High
Community resilience rating	Very Low
NRI version	December 2025

FEMA's all-hazard expected annual loss adds buildings, agriculture and population equivalence; this table gives the property part and the population-equivalence part as separate rows.

Social vulnerability: higher means people are more likely to be harmed and slower to recover. Community resilience: lower means the community is less able to recover. High social vulnerability and low resilience both raise the NRI risk rating.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c: repetitive loss properties

Repetitive loss in this county, both definitions

Sources: 1, 4

Definition	Properties	Severe repetitive loss	Properties
Repetitive loss, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2)	0	Severe repetitive loss, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2)	0
Repetitive loss, NFIP insurance definition	0	Severe repetitive loss, NFIP insurance definition	0

The state NFIP coordinator's list, the source FEMA's Handbook names, often uses the NFIP insurance definition (second row).

Repeat-flood properties: county total and NFIP communities

Sources: 1, 4

Scope	RL, FMAproperties	SRL, FMAproperties	RL, NFIPproperties	SRL, NFIPproperties	Any categoryproperties	Mitigatedproperties	Currently insuredproperties
County total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Repeat-flood properties by jurisdiction in the plan (NFIP community)

Sources: 1, 4

Jurisdiction	NFIP community ID	RL, FMAproperties	SRL, FMAproperties	RL, NFIPproperties	SRL, NFIPproperties	Any categoryproperties	Mitigatedproperties	Currently insuredproperties
Catron County	350004	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Counts by occupancy group for each jurisdiction are in the Excel file, sheet "B2-c Jurisdictions".

Jurisdiction rows are whole NFIP communities and need not add up to the county total: a community that extends into another county is counted in full on each jurisdiction row, while the county table counts only its part in this county.

County repeat-flood properties by occupancy group: 0 in every occupancy group.

Sources: 1, 4

FMA RL and FMA SRL are the Flood Mitigation Assistance definitions (44 CFR 77.2), the ones the FEMA Local Mitigation Planning Policy Guide cites. NFIP repetitive loss (the FEMA insurance definition) is 2 or more claims over $1,000 in 10 years, and a property can leave that group once it is mitigated. Also shown: NFIP severe repetitive loss, any category, mitigated and currently insured. The Methods page gives the OpenFEMA field details.

Counts are aggregates of FEMA's public NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (FEMA's data date 2026-08-02; file version 2026-08-04). No property is identified. County assignment is FEMA's geocode.

In this county 0 properties are FMA repetitive loss but not NFIP repetitive loss, and 0 properties are NFIP repetitive loss but not FMA repetitive loss.

Exact counts; no count suppression.

Sources

Tables cite these sources by number. The full list, for the plan's bibliography (FEMA review item A4-a):

FEMA, OpenFEMA HazardMitigationPlanStatuses v1, version 2026-09-29T134039Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/HazardMitigationPlanStatuses (API)
FEMA, OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, version 2026-09-29T162832Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries (API)
FEMA, OpenFEMA PublicAssistanceFundedProjectsSummaries v1, version 2026-09-29T150754Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/PublicAssistanceFundedProjectsSummaries (API)
FEMA, OpenFEMA NfipMultipleLossProperties v1, version 2026-08-04T164045Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/NfipMultipleLossProperties (API)
FEMA, FEMA National Risk Index 1.20.0 (December 2025), county and census tract tables, version 1.20.0, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/about/reports-and-data/openfema/nri/v120/NRI_Table_Counties.zip (download, 25 MB), https://www.fema.gov/about/reports-and-data/openfema/nri/v120/NRI_Table_CensusTracts.zip (download, 635 MB)
NOAA NCEI, NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, details files (csvfiles v1.0), version c20260918, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/swdi/stormevents/csvfiles/
NOAA National Weather Service, NWS county-public forecast zones correlation file, version bp03mr20 to bp16ap26 (11 files; newest bp16ap26), pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.weather.gov/gis/ZoneCounty
U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2024 Gazetteer, 2020 place by county, CT county-to-cousub crosswalk, version 2024-gazetteer, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_counties_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_cousubs_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_place_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_unsd_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_elsd_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_scsd_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/reference/codes2020/national_place_by_county2020.txt, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/reference/ct_change/ct_cou_to_cousub_crosswalk.xlsx (used to match place names and codes; no table prints its values)

What this packet is and what the plan adds

This packet is the federal data for the plan's risk assessment, organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B. Each section heading names the item its tables support; the plan and FEMA's review decide whether the item is met.

The plan adds what only the community has: local data on assets, critical facilities, development and each jurisdiction's impacts; local hazard history, including state-declared emergencies; the mitigation strategy; and adoption.

How the federal data are built: National Risk Index values are FEMA's model, not counts of events. Storm Events is more complete from 1996; zone-level records are placed by forecast zone, not by location in the county. Public Assistance for a jurisdiction is matched by applicant name. The Methods page gives every rule and the known edge cases.

OpenFEMA disclaimer

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Reuse, citation and corrections

Reuse and citation: Hazard Plain text and tables are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); credit Hazard Plain and the release. The underlying federal data are public domain; OpenFEMA data are also subject to the OpenFEMA terms and conditions.

Cite this: Hazard Plain (2026). Catron County, NM: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10 (data as of 2026-09-30; County FIPS 35003). Automated baseline. https://hazardplain.org/nm/35003/ Built from FEMA OpenFEMA, the FEMA National Risk Index and NOAA NCEI Storm Events; source versions in the packet's Sources list.

Corrections: to report an error, name the packet, the table and what your records show. Contact: [email protected]

Hazard Plain release 2026-10. As of 2026-09-30; Storm Events data through 2026-06-30. Automated baseline.