Hail in New Mexico — where it hits, county by county

Hail is a fact of life on New Mexico ground — 470 National Weather Service hail reports in the last 5 years, led by Union County, peaking around May. The table below ranks the counties; the interactive national map shows exactly where, year by year. Checking a specific address? The map’s search box pulls every dated report within 25 miles.

Open the interactive map on New Mexico →

Top hail counties in New Mexico (2022–2026)

CountyReportsAvg/yrPeak month% damaging (≥1.5″)
Union7815.6Jun41%
Lea6312.6Jun54%
Bernalillo499.8May6%
CURRY479.4May38%
Colfax459.0Jun47%
San Miguel377.4Jun27%
QUAY357.0May46%
Roosevelt295.8May41%
Santa Fe265.2May4%
Eddy214.2May57%
Chaves204.0May45%
Curry204.0May55%

New Mexico hail — the questions people ask

Where does it hail the most in New Mexico?

By reported hail over the last 5 years, the most active counties in New Mexico are Union, Lea, Bernalillo. Reports track population and spotter coverage as well as storms, so rural corridors can be under-counted; the persistent leaders on this table are real hail geography.

When is hail season in New Mexico?

Reported hail in New Mexico peaks around May, with most activity in the spring-through-midsummer window. Any single year can break the pattern.

How much of New Mexico's hail is damaging?

On this page, damaging means reported stones of 1.5″ or larger — the size that reliably dents roofs and vehicles and strips crops. The per-county damaging share is in the table; statewide, hail of any size totaled 470 reports over 5 years.

Source: National Weather Service Local Storm Reports via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, 2022–2026. Reports depend on someone reporting — population and spotter density bias the counts; the persistent leaders are real hail geography. Compiled by Sigurd Lindquist · AGSIST · available at no charge.