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Caprock, New Mexico

6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1973. It stands in the Tatum census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88267. The Survey maps it on the Caprock quadrangle. It stands 4,377 feet above sea level.

Caprock within Lea County

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 6 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

17 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Caprock between 1994 and 2020, burning about 7,455 acres in total. 4 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/undetermined8
Natural4
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Smoking1

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
1 August 2019Smoking1.0 acresCapitan District20-50260132X
24 July 2015Naturalunder an acreRoswell Field OfficeCAP
15 July 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMCGUFFIN
26 June 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionGROSE 380
17 June 2009Natural50 acresRoswell Field OfficeDRILLING
17 May 2018Power generation/transmission/distribution105 acresCapitan DistrictECLIPSE
13 May 1995Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreRoswell Field OfficeHEATER
21 April 1994Natural250 acresRoswell Field OfficeCAP1

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lea County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Caprock: 7 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Calcium. 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
Caprock PitCalciumUnknown
Un. Grav PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Lea County

Storms near this place

7 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Caprock in 7 storm reports between 2001 and 2015: 6 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
April 2009HailCaprock-Golf ball size hail was reported along US 380 about 10 miles west of Tatum, NM. The hail was covering the road and the person who made the report lost control of her van. The individual was not injured. The time of the event was estimated according to the report and radar.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindCaprock-The broadcast media reported severe thunderstorm winds near Caprock.
April 2004HailCaprock-Penny size hail was reported in Caprock. This was the second severe storm to affect that community within an hour.
June 2015HailCaprock-no account filed
May 2013HailCaprock-no account filed
April 2004HailCaprock-no account filed
March 2001HailCaprock-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lea 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
Crossroads21.4 miles5
Tatum22.9 miles5
McDonald27.2 miles6
Gladiola29.7 miles5
Hillburn City29.8 miles7
Prairieview34.1 miles5
Lovington36.4 miles6
Maljamar37.1 miles6

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 CaprockAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5036295The 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 898528. 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.