BlockBefore

Sofia, New Mexico

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Clayton North census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88424. The Survey maps it on the Sofia quadrangle.

Sofia within Union 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

6 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Sofia between 1999 and 2018, burning about 1,082 acres in total. 4 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
Natural4
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
23 August 2007Natural300 acresNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
23 August 2007Natural513 acresNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
23 August 2007Natural186 acresNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
13 June 2018Naturalunder an acreCimarron DistrictSOFIA
12 February 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined80 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionSOFIA
26 November 2016Power generation/transmission/distribution3.0 acresCimarron DistrictDEASON

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Sofia: 1 unknown, 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 PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
State Pit 69 23 SSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

7 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sofia in 7 storm reports between 2015 and 2025: 4 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 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 2017HailSofia$50,000Hail up to the size of golf balls knocked out windows of several cars and homes near the Sofia Community.
June 2025Flash FloodSofia-Trained spotter reported 4 to 6 inches of rushing water over his driveway on his ranch property several miles north of U.S. 56/412 in far western Union County.
July 2025HailSofia-A trained spotter observed golf ball size hail from a severe thunderstorm.
July 2020Tornado (EF0)Sofia-A brief tornado touched down over rural countryside 12 miles west of Grenville.
June 2019HailSofia-Hail up to the size of nickels was reported several miles northeast of Gladstone.
August 2017HailSofia-Periodic hail up to the size of nickels 14 miles northeast of Gladstone.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindSofia-Extreme winds that observer thought would uproot the grass.

Every storm recorded in Union 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
Gladstone12.7 miles7
Pennington14.5 miles7
Grenville14.9 miles8
Grande15.4 miles8
Mount Dora18.6 miles8
Beenham19.3 miles7
Des Moines21.4 miles8
Capulin21.8 miles8

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 898599. 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.