Chili, New Mexico
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the South Rio Arriba census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87537. It stands on Rio del Oso. The Survey maps it on the Chili quadrangle. 541 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,745 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresChili fell from 654 to 541 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 654 | |
| 2020 | 541 | -113 (-17%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 14 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.
- 1918 USGS Abiquiu quadrangle1:125000
- 1953 USGS Chili quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS San Juan Pueblo quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Aztec quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Aztec quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Aztec quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Aztec quadrangle1:250000
- 2002 USGS Chili quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
121 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 121 fires within 5 miles of Chili between 1992 and 2020, burning about 559 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 13 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 56 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 13 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | PHILIP |
| 7 August 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Northern Pueblos Agency | FENCE |
| 14 August 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Northern Pueblos Agency | PILE |
| 10 August 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Northern Pueblos Agency | NOEL |
| 8 July 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Northern Pueblos Agency | COUNTY 56 |
| 8 July 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7.5 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | MONTOYA |
| 7 July 1993 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Northern Pueblos Agency | ORCHARD |
| 6 July 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | NELSON |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Chili: 6 prospects, 3 unknowns, 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Diatomite, Pumice. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara Pumice Pit 1 | Pumice | Unknown | ||
| Diatomaceous Earth Pit | Diatomite | Unknown | ||
| J.H. Rhoades Pumice Co. Diatomite Mine | Diatomite | Past Producer | 1953, 1954 | |
| James H Rhode | Diatomite | Prospect | ||
| Rhodes Diatomite Pit | Diatomite | Past Producer | ||
| Materials Pit No. 59-55-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Materials Pit No. 59-56-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Materials Pit No. 64-17-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Materials Pit No. 67-23-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Materials Pit No. 68-1-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect |
Storms near this place
3 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chili in 3 storm reports between 2012 and 2023: 2 flash flood, 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 2023 | Flood | Chili | $300,000 | Rapid snow melt led to high river rises and overbank flooding at and downstream of the junction between the Rio Ojo Caliente and Rio Chama. Ten homes had water come right up to the house structure. This flooded yards, wells and septic tanks. Damages are an estimate. |
| August 2012 | Flash Flood | Chili | $5,000 | Water was reported flowing over Indian Service Roads 601 and 602. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Chili | - | US 84 closed due to flash flooding between mile markers 197 and 204. |
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.
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 Chili | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5766409 | 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 905096. 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.







