Seneca, New Mexico
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Clayton North census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88415. The Survey maps it on the Seneca quadrangle. It stands 4,990 feet above sea level.
On record in Seneca
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Goodson Memorial Schoollisted 2003
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 9 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 Dalhart quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Dalhart quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Dalhart quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Seneca quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Capulin Mountain quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Seneca quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
6 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Seneca between 2006 and 2020, burning about 594 acres in total. 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2019 | Natural | 16 acres | Cimarron District | 20-20460233X |
| 22 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Cibola National Forest | SENECA |
| 10 July 2011 | Natural | 45 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | KEZER |
| 26 June 2020 | Natural | 3.6 acres | Cibola National Forest | SENECA |
| 22 June 2020 | Natural | 29 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | FA - OKLAHOMA LINE |
| 20 May 2006 | Natural | 500 acres | Cibola National Forest | RABBIT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Seneca: 2 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
22 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Seneca in 22 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 16 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud. 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 2023 | Hail | Seneca | $10,000 | Ping pong size hail was reported to have broken one window and several west facing vehicle windshields. |
| August 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Seneca | $1,000 | Combination of strong wind gusts and hail broke windows at home in Seneca. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Seneca | - | The Union County emergency manager estimated 50 to 60 mph wind gusts at Clayton Lake State Park from a severe thunderstorm. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Seneca | - | A trained spotter estimated 60 mph wind gusts along with lots of blowing dust kicked up ahead of a severe thunderstorm. The blowing dust resulted in reduced visibility at his location. |
| June 2023 | Funnel Cloud | Seneca | - | A funnel cloud was observed north of Clayton near Rabbit Ears Mountain. |
| September 2021 | Hail | Seneca | - | A trained spotter near Seneca reported quarter size hail from a severe thunderstorm tracking southward through the area. |
| May 2019 | Hail | Seneca | - | Quarter size hail reported at Clayton Lake. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Seneca | - | Quarter size hail reported in Seneca. |
| August 2017 | Hail | Seneca | - | Hail up to the size of pennies in Seneca. |
| May 2017 | Hail | Seneca | - | Hail up to the size of quarters near Seneca. |
| April 2016 | Hail | Seneca | - | Hail ranged from quarters to half dollar size near Seneca. |
| May 2016 | Hail | Seneca | - | Quarter size hail. |
| August 2016 | Hail | Seneca | - | Nickel size hail east of Seneca. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Seneca | - | Spotter reported a severe wind gust moved through the area with a thunderstorm on the 3rd. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Seneca | - | Thunderstorm with pea size hail and high winds blew down fencing at coop observer residence. |
| June 2009 | Hail | Seneca | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Seneca | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Seneca | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Seneca | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Seneca | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Seneca | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Seneca | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Moses | 4.6 miles | 9 | |
| McNees Crossing | 5.5 miles | 9 | |
| Moses | 6.8 miles | 9 | |
| Atencio | 9.9 miles | 8 | |
| Clayton | 12.6 miles | 8 | |
| Royce | 13.9 miles | 9 | |
| Cuates (historical) | 15.1 miles | 8 | |
| Mount Dora | 20.6 miles | 8 |
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 Seneca | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14706105 | 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 910940. 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.





