Quay, New Mexico
6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1970. It stands in the Tucumcari census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88401. The Survey maps it on the Quay quadrangle. It stands 4,285 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
3 surveys from 6 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 Clovis quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Clovis quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Quay quadrangle1:24000
Photographs
1 photograph,Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
9 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Quay between 1996 and 2018, burning about 3,218 acres in total. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Natural | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | WRIGHT |
| 25 July 2016 | Natural | 80 acres | Las Vegas District | CEMENTARY FIRE |
| 21 June 2017 | Natural | 100 acres | Las Vegas District | HAMPTON FIRE |
| 29 May 2016 | Natural | 50 acres | Las Vegas District | DAVIDSON |
| 12 March 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 acres | Las Vegas District | LABOONE PASTURE 2 |
| 10 March 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 acres | Las Vegas District | LABOONE PASTURE |
| 21 February 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,250 acres | Las Vegas District | JESTER |
| 7 January 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | CRP |
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 Quay: 4 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
11 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Quay in 11 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 6 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 heavy rain, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Funnel Cloud | Quay | - | An observer on State Highway 209 at mile marker 76 looking east southeast observed a funnel cloud on the mesa south of Tucumcari. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Quay | - | Storm chasers on the ICECHIP field research program observed quarter to ping pong ball size hail near Quay from a severe thunderstorm. |
| May 2021 | Hail | Quay | - | A trained spotter reported 1 inch hail as they were driving along U.S. Highway 209 near Quay. |
| June 2014 | Flash Flood | Quay | - | Highway 248 closed due to flooding from mile marker 0 to 5. Road remained closed beyond causative event until early in the morning on the 10th. |
| August 2010 | Flash Flood | Quay | - | A low water crossing along Quay Road 49 flooded out due to the heavy rains. This area only received about an inch of rain, however, areas upstream received nearly 4 inches, resulting in high water in all area creeks and streams. |
| October 2003 | Heavy Rain | Quay | - | Highway 209 was closed for several hours due to mud and high water following locally heavy rain. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Quay | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Quay | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Quay | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Quay | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Quay | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ragland | 7.7 miles | 7 | |
| Kirk (historical) | 8.6 miles | 7 | |
| Jordan | 10.7 miles | 6 | |
| Ogle (historical) | 11.7 miles | 6 | |
| Puerto (historical) | 11.9 miles | 6 | |
| Forrest | 12.8 miles | 7 | |
| Plain (historical) | 13.1 miles | 7 | |
| Norton | 13.2 miles | 6 |
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 Quay | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7269613 | 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 899861. 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.


