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Buena Vista, New Mexico

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Mora census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87712. It lies near Amola Ridge. The Survey maps it on the Rainsville quadrangle. It stands 6,988 feet above sea level.

Buena Vista within Mora County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

112 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 112 fires within 5 miles of Buena Vista between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,301 acres in total. 53 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
Natural53
Missing data/not specified/undetermined34
Debris and open burning13
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
8 September 2007Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
7 September 2020Natural1.0 acresLas Vegas District21-40470263X
6 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionWIMP
21 September 2019Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresLas Vegas District20-40320255X
18 September 2012Natural1.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionHUNTER
4 August 2001Natural1.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionGORDEN
30 August 2009Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionBUENA VISTA
28 August 2009Natural4.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionALLSUP

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mora County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Buena Vista: 8 unknowns, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Mica. 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
Great Western MineMicaPast Producer1949, 1952
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Mora County

Storms near this place

8 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Buena Vista in 8 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 6 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 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
May 2025FloodBuena Vista-A trained spotter reported that flooding from the rain on snow event that had ended on earlier in the week was continuing due to the fast warm-up in temperatures exacerbating the snowmelt. Flood impacts included streams and creeks overtopping area highways.
August 2020HailBuena Vista-Hail up to the size of two inches in diameter fell in Buena Vista as a severe thunderstorm tracked south-southwest through the area. The extent of damage from the hail was not known.
July 2018HailBuena Vista-Hail up to the size of quarters reported in Buena Vista.
July 2018HailBuena Vista-Hail up to the size of quarters in Buena Vista.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindBuena Vista-Peak wind gusts up to 65 mph produced minor damage to tree branches around Buena Vista.
May 2009HailBuena Vista-Nickel size hail was reported at Buena Vista.
June 2014HailBuena Vista-no account filed
August 2008HailBuena Vista-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Mora 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
La Cueva1.9 miles15
Canoncito2.6 miles16
Puertocito2.8 miles16
Golondrinas3.7 miles15
North Carmen4.1 miles16
South Carmen4.8 miles16
Rainsville5.0 miles15
El Alto5.5 miles16

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 Buena VistaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q19460726The 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 899555. 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.