BlockBefore

Oil Center, New Mexico

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Eunice census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88231. The Survey maps it on the Oil Center quadrangle.

Oil Center within Lea County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 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

28 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Oil Center between 1993 and 2019, burning about 1,438 acres in total. None 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/undetermined16
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Equipment and vehicle use3
Debris and open burning2
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
5 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined225 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionDECK
30 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined400 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionDUMP
25 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionGOLF
4 August 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionLAKE
23 July 2019Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresCapitan District20-50200104X
2 July 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionFIRECRACKER
16 July 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionCLUB
14 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined40 acresCapitan DistrictBRUTON RANCH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lea County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Oil Center: 14 unknowns, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sulfur. 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
Hobbs Potash FacilitySulfurProducer
Armstrong and ArmstrongSand 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
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

8 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oil Center in 8 storm reports between 2012 and 2024: 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2012Thunderstorm WindOil Center$4,000A thunderstorm moved over Lea County and produced a severe wind gust. Two power poles were blown over on the east side of State Highway 8 about 0.12 miles south of the Maddox Road intersection. The damage cost is an estimate.
September 2014Flash FloodOil Center$500Heavy rain fell across Lea County and produced flash flooding southwest of Hobbs. Highways 8 and 322 were closed due to high water, approximately 15 to 20 miles southwest of Hobbs. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
November 2024Tornado (EFU)Oil Center-Several storm chasers reported a brief rope tornado near the town of|Oil Center, New Mexico. This tornado lasted only a few minutes,|traveling an estimated distance of approximately one mile. This|impacted rural portions of Lea County within an oil field that is|not publicly accessible, and no damage was reported. Therefore,|this tornado is rated as EF-Unknown.
November 2024Tornado (EFU)Oil Center-Several storm chasers reported a large, rapidly rotating wall cloud|with a dusty circulation underneath it. This tornado was reported to|have lasted approximately 15 minutes and traveled about 6 miles. The|tornado may have briefly lifted and touched back down at times. No|damage was reported with this tornado as it remained over an|inaccessible, open oil field south of Highway 176 in rural Lea|County near the town of Oil Center. Therefore, this tornado is rated|EF-Unknown.
November 2024HailOil Center-no account filed
November 2024HailOil Center-no account filed
November 2024Thunderstorm WindOil Center-no account filed
June 2012HailOil Center-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
Eunice6.9 miles6
Jones City7.5 miles6
Monument8.6 miles5
Warren9.7 miles5
Nadine11.2 miles5
Maypens11.2 miles6
Arkansas Junction14.4 miles5
Lea14.5 miles6

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 899817. 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.