BlockBefore

Atoka, New Mexico

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the Artesia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88210. It lies near Tumbleweed Draw. The Survey maps it on the Artesia quadrangle. 1,153 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,376 feet above sea level.

Atoka within Eddy County

Population over time

2 figures

Atoka grew from 1,077 to 1,153 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,077
20201,153+76 (+7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 8 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

37 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 37 fires within 5 miles of Atoka between 1992 and 2020, burning about 4,020 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Equipment and vehicle use14
Natural3
Smoking1
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
19 September 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCapitan DistrictKINCAID RANCH ROAD
25 August 2014Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionHUMMINGBIRD ROAD
6 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionATOKA
4 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCarlsbad Field OfficeJC PARK
3 July 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
25 June 2011Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCarlsbad Field OfficeAVALON
22 June 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresCarlsbad Field Office13TH STREET
21 June 2020Smokingunder an acreCapitan DistrictPENASCO

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Eddy County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Atoka: 6 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Materials PitStoneUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Sherrell PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Eddy County

Storms near this place

10 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Atoka in 10 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2010Thunderstorm WindAtoka$180,000Several side roll irrigation sprinklers were destroyed by a strong wind gust in Atoka, NM. The time of this report was estimated according to radar and another wind gust recorded by the Artesia ASOS.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindAtoka$16,000There were numerous damage reports associated with this severe thunderstorm. The damage path has been estimated according to these reports. At 1945 MST, a trained spotter reported that a small camper was blown over onto a pickup truck near the intersection of Kincaid Rd and Highway 385. Significant damage was done to the camper. About five minutes later, 30' long by 20' wide metal sheds were destroyed about 5 miles south of Artesia and an Atoka, NM resident had his porch awning blown off his house. Around 1955 MST, thunderstorm wind gusts snapped a power pole in half near the junction of 4 Dinkus Rd and Highway 285.
September 2016HailAtoka$4,000A storm moved across Eddy County and produced ping pong ball sized hail in Atoka. The hail broke skylights and side mirrors on vehicles and also did damage to an RV. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
September 2019Flash FloodAtoka$1,000Heavy rain fell across Eddy County and produced flash flooding near Artesia. Water was up to the doorway of homes at East Blevins Road and Haldeman Road. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
June 2025Flash FloodAtoka-Flash flooding of the normally dry Fourmile Draw with 4 to 5 feet of water over North Lake Road. Duration is an estimation.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindAtoka-A thunderstorm that moved across western Eddy County produced an estimated wind gust of 60 mph that was reported by a storm chaser.
June 2019HailAtoka-no account filed
October 2015HailAtoka-no account filed
October 2015HailAtoka-no account filed
June 2014HailAtoka-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Eddy County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Dayton2.6 miles9
Artesia5.1 miles8
Frontier Post5.6 miles9
Riverside7.0 miles9
Illinois Camp10.2 miles10
Espuela11.1 miles8
Seven Rivers12.2 miles8
Hope18.4 miles9

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on AtokaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5711043The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 898718. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.