Loving, New Mexico
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1939 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Loving census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88256. The Survey maps it on the Loving quadrangle. 1,390 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,051 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLoving fell from 1,413 to 1,390 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 | 1,413 | |
| 2020 | 1,390 | -23 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 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.
- 1939 USGS Carlsbad quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Carlsbad quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Carlsbad quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Carlsbad quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1979 USGS Carlsbad quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Loving quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
79 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 79 fires within 5 miles of Loving between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,800 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 64 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Carlsbad Field Office | ASH |
| 6 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Carlsbad Field Office | HIGBY HOLE |
| 9 July 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Capitan District | KELLY |
| 7 July 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | ROBERSON |
| 3 July 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Carlsbad Field Office | WALKER |
| 5 June 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | RABBIT |
| 4 June 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 acres | Carlsbad Field Office | FLAT |
| 4 June 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Carlsbad Field Office | REFINERY 2 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Loving: 2 producers, 1 past producer, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Potassium, Bromine, Halite, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| New Mexico Salt | Bromine, Halite | Producer | Brine, Halite | |
| Flotation Plant | Potassium | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Potassium | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
27 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Loving in 27 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 17 hail, 6 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Loving | $600,000 | Very intense severe thunderstorm pummelled Loving, especially the southeast part of town, with hail up to golfball size and 60-65 mph winds. Numerous windows were broken out of homes by the fast-moving hail. Also, tree damage ranged from being uprooted to losing large branches, to being stripped of all their leaves. A few power poles were blown down as well. The damage covered about a 10 city block area. One mobile home was considered totaled by an insurance company. The storm moved southeast but weakened as it approached Malaga. |
| June 2018 | Hail | Loving | $100,000 | A thunderstorm moved across Eddy County and produced tennis ball sized hail sixteen miles east northeast of Loving. There were a lot of broken windows and several dented vehicles at WIPP. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate. |
| April 2025 | Flash Flood | Loving | $25,000 | At 2:53 AM MDT, a swift water rescue was conducted near a low-water crossing at Black River near Black River Road. A vehicle was reported to have been swept downstream. No injuries were reported. The time is radar estimated. Property damage is an estimation. |
| April 2025 | Flash Flood | Loving | $25,000 | At 4:41 AM MDT, a swift water rescue was conducted at a low water crossing over the Black River along Higby Hole Road. No injuries were reported. The time is estimated using radar. The property damage is an estimation. |
| July 1999 | Lightning | Loving | $15,000 | Lightning struck two oil tank batteries causing them to burst into flames. Fire fighters from three towns fought the blaze. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Loving | $10,000 | An open-ended 30x40 foot barn made of poles and corrugated metal was destroyed by microburst winds. The owner of the barn said that the roof was first lifted and then the walls collapsed. The east side of the barn had no wall and with the winds coming in from the east, the air was caught and began the lifting process. A survey of the site found a strongly divergent pattern to damage in the local area. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Loving | $5,000 | Local authorities reported power lines blown down by severe thunderstorm gusts. |
| March 2019 | Hail | Loving | $1,000 | A thunderstorm moved across Eddy County and produced golfball sized hail in Loving. The hail cracked a windshield and dented a vehicle. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate. |
| November 2024 | Hail | Loving | - | A trained spotter relayed a report from Facebook of ping pong ball to golf ball size hail in Loving. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Loving | - | Quarter sized hail was reported at mile marker 9 on HWY 128. |
| March 2007 | Hail | Loving | - | Penny to nickel size hail fell in Loving, NM. |
| March 2007 | Hail | Loving | - | Penny to nickel size hail fell in a swath from Loving to Otis. |
| October 2006 | Hail | Loving | - | Quarter to golfball size hail fell on the north side of Loving. |
| October 2006 | Hail | Loving | - | The Eddy County Sheriff's Office reported penny size hail falling at the intersection of New Mexico Highway 31 and New Mexico Highway 128. |
| August 2005 | Flash Flood | Loving | - | The Loving Police Department reported nearly half a foot of water running through several streets in Loving. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Loving | - | Nickel to quarter size hail was reported by the public. |
| June 2000 | Flash Flood | Loving | - | State Highway 31 at mile marker 2 was underwater. |
| June 2000 | Flash Flood | Loving | - | Highway 128 was flooded at Nash Draw. Remained flooded overnight. |
| June 1997 | Hail | Loving | - | Farms southeast of Loving were hit hard with cotton and oats being destroyed. |
| August 1997 | Flash Flood | Loving | - | Heavy tropical rains caused flooding on State Highway 128 near the Eddy/Lea County line. |
| October 1995 | Hail | Loving | - | The Loving Police Department reported dime-size hail. |
| June 1994 | Hail | Loving | - | An intense hail storm of mostly pea-size hail but with some large stones defoliated 500 acres of cotton near Loving. Numerous electrical appliances were also damaged by lightning. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Loving | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Loving | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Loving | - | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Hail | Loving | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Loving | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lookout (historical) | 3.8 miles | 10 | |
| Harroun Crossing | 4.0 miles | 10 | |
| Lookout Crossing | 4.4 miles | 10 | |
| Malaga | 4.5 miles | 10 | |
| Otis | 5.9 miles | 11 | |
| Harkey Crossing | 6.4 miles | 10 | |
| Pierce Canyon Crossing | 9.1 miles | 5 | |
| Black River Village | 10.2 miles | 11 |
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 Loving | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1998727 | 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 899740. 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.





