BlockBefore

Rio Communities, New Mexico

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Belen census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87002. The Survey maps it on the Tome quadrangle.

Rio Communities within Valencia County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 10 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

376 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 376 fires within 5 miles of Rio Communities between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,657 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 14 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
Debris and open burning172
Missing data/not specified/undetermined145
Equipment and vehicle use19
Arson/incendiarism14
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Smoking6
Natural6
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Fireworks1
Recreation and ceremony1
Other causes1

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
7 September 2011Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionANIMAL
14 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionSERAFIN
14 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionALLSUPS
1 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionGIANT
7 August 2019Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreBernalillo District20-60380159X
5 August 1992Naturalunder an acreAlbuquerque District OfficeJUG TANK
29 August 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionRAIL
23 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBernalillo District21-60710236X

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Valencia County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Rio Communities: 7 unknowns, 1 producer. 1 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Materials Pit 66-1-FSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials Pit 57-104-FSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials Pit 64-1-SSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Tome PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerSedimentary
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Valencia County

Storms near this place

5 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rio Communities in 5 storm reports between 2013 and 2025: 2 flash flood, 2 hail, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2013Flash FloodRio Communities$20,000Emergency Manager reported water in two homes in Belen near State Roads 47 and 309.
June 2025HailRio Communities-A CoCoRaHS observer reported penny size hail in the Rio Communities from a strong to severe thunderstorm.
September 2017HailRio Communities-Hail up to the size of ping pong balls near Rio Communities.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindRio Communities-Peak wind gust up to 70 mph with severe storm in Rio Communities.
September 2017Flash FloodRio Communities-Public reported the streets turned into raging rivers in Rio Communities from a severe thunderstorm.

Every storm recorded in Valencia 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
Rio Grande Estates1.2 miles10
Los Trujillos1.4 miles10
La Constancia2.0 miles10
Belen2.4 miles10
Bacaville2.5 miles10
Pueblitos3.0 miles10
Jarales3.0 miles10
Azul3.3 miles10

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 2413664. 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.