BlockBefore

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.

Loving within Eddy County

Population over time

2 figures

Loving 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.

YearPeople Change
20101,413
20201,390-23 (-2%)

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

79 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined64
Debris and open burning8
Arson/incendiarism2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony1

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
8 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresCarlsbad Field OfficeASH
6 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCarlsbad Field OfficeHIGBY HOLE
9 July 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreCapitan DistrictKELLY
7 July 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionROBERSON
3 July 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresCarlsbad Field OfficeWALKER
5 June 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionRABBIT
4 June 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined16 acresCarlsbad Field OfficeFLAT
4 June 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCarlsbad Field OfficeREFINERY 2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Eddy 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 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
New Mexico SaltBromine, HaliteProducerBrine, Halite
Flotation PlantPotassiumProducer
UnknownPotassiumPast Producer

Every working recorded in Eddy County

Storms near this place

27 since 1994

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1997Thunderstorm WindLoving$600,000Very 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 2018HailLoving$100,000A 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 2025Flash FloodLoving$25,000At 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 2025Flash FloodLoving$25,000At 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 1999LightningLoving$15,000Lightning struck two oil tank batteries causing them to burst into flames. Fire fighters from three towns fought the blaze.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindLoving$10,000An 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 2003Thunderstorm WindLoving$5,000Local authorities reported power lines blown down by severe thunderstorm gusts.
March 2019HailLoving$1,000A 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 2024HailLoving-A trained spotter relayed a report from Facebook of ping pong ball to golf ball size hail in Loving.
May 2018HailLoving-Quarter sized hail was reported at mile marker 9 on HWY 128.
March 2007HailLoving-Penny to nickel size hail fell in Loving, NM.
March 2007HailLoving-Penny to nickel size hail fell in a swath from Loving to Otis.
October 2006HailLoving-Quarter to golfball size hail fell on the north side of Loving.
October 2006HailLoving-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 2005Flash FloodLoving-The Loving Police Department reported nearly half a foot of water running through several streets in Loving.
May 2004HailLoving-Nickel to quarter size hail was reported by the public.
June 2000Flash FloodLoving-State Highway 31 at mile marker 2 was underwater.
June 2000Flash FloodLoving-Highway 128 was flooded at Nash Draw. Remained flooded overnight.
June 1997HailLoving-Farms southeast of Loving were hit hard with cotton and oats being destroyed.
August 1997Flash FloodLoving-Heavy tropical rains caused flooding on State Highway 128 near the Eddy/Lea County line.
October 1995HailLoving-The Loving Police Department reported dime-size hail.
June 1994HailLoving-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 2022HailLoving-no account filed
April 2016HailLoving-no account filed
June 2013HailLoving-no account filed
April 2000HailLoving-no account filed
June 1994HailLoving-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Eddy 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
Lookout (historical)3.8 miles10
Harroun Crossing4.0 miles10
Lookout Crossing4.4 miles10
Malaga4.5 miles10
Otis5.9 miles11
Harkey Crossing6.4 miles10
Pierce Canyon Crossing9.1 miles5
Black River Village10.2 miles11

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 LovingAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1998727The 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.