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Cloudcroft, New Mexico

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 2004. It stands in the Southeast Otero census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88317. It lies near Mexican Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Cloudcroft quadrangle. 750 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 8,668 feet above sea level.

Cloudcroft within Otero County

On record in Cloudcroft

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Cloudcroft grew from 674 to 750 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
2010674
2020750+76 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 11 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

192 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 192 fires within 5 miles of Cloudcroft between 1992 and 2020, burning about 46 acres in total. 59 started naturally. 3 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
Recreation and ceremony92
Natural59
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Debris and open burning6
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Smoking4
Arson/incendiarism3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Fireworks1

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
7 September 2000Debris and open burningunder an acreLincoln National ForestSLASH PIT
4 September 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLincoln National ForestSLEEPY GRASS
28 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLincoln National ForestGATE
18 September 1994Naturalunder an acreLincoln National Forestnot named
1 September 2002Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLincoln National ForestLA LUZ 2
9 August 2016Naturalunder an acreLincoln National ForestHAYNES
4 August 1999Naturalunder an acreLincoln National ForestCHIPPEWAY
31 August 2002Naturalunder an acreLincoln National ForestSULLIVAN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otero County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Cloudcroft: 2 past producers, 2 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Copper, Lead, 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
Red Hill DepositCopper, LeadPast Producer
State Hwy Pit No. 58-99-SStoneUnknown
Cloudcroft C335Sand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Cloudcroft PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Otero County

Storms near this place

27 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cloudcroft in 27 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 18 hail, 5 flash flood, 3 heavy rain, 1 tornado. 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
July 2013HailCloudcroft$250Golf ball size hail was reported on Highway 244 east of Cloudcroft which broke a windshield.
July 2012HailCloudcroft$10A local trained spotter reported several minutes of .70 inch hail across western portions of the city of Cloudcroft in association with a strong thunderstorm that moved over the area. .50 inches of heavy rain was also reported from this storm.
July 2025HailCloudcroft-An NWS Student Volunteer reported hail up to one inch in diameter east of Cloudcroft.
July 2025HailCloudcroft-Hail up to the size of quarters and as deep as 4 inches in areas was reported around Cloudcroft. Snow plows were called in order to remove the hail from roads.
July 2023HailCloudcroft-A trained spotter near Silver Lake reported hail up to the size of pennies.
July 2022Heavy RainCloudcroft-The Otero County Emergency Manager reported up to 4 inches of rain had fallen in less than 2 hours at the Waterfall Lodge and along Cox Canyon Highway.
July 2021HailCloudcroft-Golf ball size hail.
September 2016HailCloudcroft-Hail was up to 2 inches deep.
July 2016HailCloudcroft-Dime to nickel sized hail reported just south-southeast of Cloudcroft.
September 2014Heavy RainCloudcroft-A CoCoRaHS Observer 5 miles northeast of Cloudcroft reported 2.99 inches of rain between the 16th and early on the 19th.
July 2013HailCloudcroft-Mescalero Fire Department reported pea to nickel sized hail covering the ground up to 6 inches in depth along highway 244.
July 2013Flash FloodCloudcroft-Mescalero Fire Department reported 8 to 12 inches of water along with debris covering Highway 244 between mile markers 10 and 18. Road was closed for a short while.
September 2013Flash FloodCloudcroft-Water was over the roads and driveways in Sixteen Springs. Ditches were running 1 to 2 feet deep.
September 2013Flash FloodCloudcroft-Flooding with necessary evacuations occurred around Sixteen Springs and Walker Canyon. Spotter reports of 2 inches of rain in an hour with County Road 10 washed out east of Sixteen Springs.
August 2012Heavy RainCloudcroft-The local COOP observer for Cloudcroft reported 1.17 inches of heavy rain. The local emergency manager also reported heavy rain and some minor street flood occurring across western and southern parts of Cloudcroft.
July 2011Flash FloodCloudcroft-A total of 5.5 inches of rain was reported in Cloudcroft. Flooding was reported around the Cloudcroft High School area, around the water treatment plant and over Highway 130. The intersection of Chautauqua and Woodlands Roads was closed due to water over the road. Other rainfall totals over the Sacramento Mountains included 2.99 inches 4 miles southwest of Silver Lake and 2.65 inches of rain at the Dry Canyon Mesonet Station 3 miles south-southwest of Silver Lake.
May 2010HailCloudcroft-Hail up to one inch in diameter was reported in Cloudcroft.
August 2010Flash FloodCloudcroft-Storm drainage culverts on Highway 130 near mile marker 16 were plugged and 2 feet of water was flowing over the highway. The highway was impassable.
July 2007HailCloudcroft-Penny to nickel size hail covered the ground.
June 2007HailCloudcroft-Hail up to ping pong size accumulated to a 2 inch depth about 2 miles southeast of Cloudcroft. The majority of the hailstones were nickel size.
June 2007Tornado (EF0)Cloudcroft-A small rope-like tornado was reported by weather observers at Holloman AFB. It was observed for 8 minutes over the Sacramento Mountains beneath a thunderstorm about 3 miles southeast of Cloudcroft. The tornado was nearly stationary while the thunderstorm moved south.
June 2003HailCloudcroft-Holloman AFB personnel involved in training south of Cloudcroft experienced 40 minutes of half-inch hail with the largest hailstones slightly larger than 1 inch in diameter.
July 2002HailCloudcroft-Hail up to the size of quarters covered the ground to a depth of 2 inches.
May 2006HailCloudcroft-no account filed
June 2004HailCloudcroft-no account filed
June 2004HailCloudcroft-no account filed
May 1997HailCloudcroft-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Otero 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
Chippeway Park3.8 miles11
Mountain Park4.4 miles11
High Rolls5.0 miles11
Wimsatt5.3 miles11
Marcia9.0 miles11
La Luz10.7 miles12
Hortonville11.4 miles11
Silver Springs11.6 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 CloudcroftAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q432556The 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 905216. 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.