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.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 7 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.
- 1954 USGS Hobbs quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Hobbs quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1978 USGS Jal quadrangle1:100000
- 1984 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
28 since 1993Regional 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/undetermined | 16 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | DECK |
| 30 September 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | DUMP |
| 25 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | GOLF |
| 4 August 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | LAKE |
| 23 July 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Capitan District | 20-50200104X |
| 2 July 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | FIRECRACKER |
| 16 July 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | CLUB |
| 14 July 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 acres | Capitan District | BRUTON RANCH |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 15 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobbs Potash Facility | Sulfur | Producer | ||
| Armstrong and Armstrong | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Un. Grav. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
8 since 2012Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oil Center | $4,000 | A 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 2014 | Flash Flood | Oil Center | $500 | Heavy 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 2024 | Tornado (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 2024 | Tornado (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 2024 | Hail | Oil Center | - | no account filed |
| November 2024 | Hail | Oil Center | - | no account filed |
| November 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oil Center | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Oil Center | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eunice | 6.9 miles | 6 | |
| Jones City | 7.5 miles | 6 | |
| Monument | 8.6 miles | 5 | |
| Warren | 9.7 miles | 5 | |
| Nadine | 11.2 miles | 5 | |
| Maypens | 11.2 miles | 6 | |
| Arkansas Junction | 14.4 miles | 5 | |
| Lea | 14.5 miles | 6 |
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.




