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.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1889 USGS Las Vegas quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Las Vegas quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Las Vegas quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1954 USGS Santa Fe quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Santa Fe quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Rainsville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Santa Fe quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
112 since 1994Regional 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 53 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 34 |
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2007 | Natural | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | not named |
| 7 September 2020 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Las Vegas District | 21-40470263X |
| 6 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | WIMP |
| 21 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Las Vegas District | 20-40320255X |
| 18 September 2012 | Natural | 1.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | HUNTER |
| 4 August 2001 | Natural | 1.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | GORDEN |
| 30 August 2009 | Natural | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | BUENA VISTA |
| 28 August 2009 | Natural | 4.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | ALLSUP |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Western Mine | Mica | Past Producer | 1949, 1952 | |
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
8 since 2008Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Flood | Buena 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 2020 | Hail | Buena 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 2018 | Hail | Buena Vista | - | Hail up to the size of quarters reported in Buena Vista. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Buena Vista | - | Hail up to the size of quarters in Buena Vista. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Buena Vista | - | Peak wind gusts up to 65 mph produced minor damage to tree branches around Buena Vista. |
| May 2009 | Hail | Buena Vista | - | Nickel size hail was reported at Buena Vista. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Buena Vista | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Buena Vista | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Cueva | 1.9 miles | 15 | |
| Canoncito | 2.6 miles | 16 | |
| Puertocito | 2.8 miles | 16 | |
| Golondrinas | 3.7 miles | 15 | |
| North Carmen | 4.1 miles | 16 | |
| South Carmen | 4.8 miles | 16 | |
| Rainsville | 5.0 miles | 15 | |
| El Alto | 5.5 miles | 16 |
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 Vista | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q19460726 | The 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.






