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Turquoise, New Mexico

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Alamogordo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88310. The Survey maps it on the Orogrande North quadrangle.

Turquoise within Otero County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

4 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Turquoise between 1994 and 2011, burning about 7,368 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 2 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
Arson/incendiarism2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Natural1

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
8 May 2009Arson/incendiarism2,150 acresLas Cruces Field OfficeLIL OROGRANDE
5 May 1994Natural200 acresLas Cruces Field OfficeSANDY
24 May 2011Equipment and vehicle use18 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionELDRIDGE
22 April 2009Arson/incendiarism5,000 acresLas Cruces Field OfficeOROGRANDE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otero County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 17 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 17 workings within 5 miles of Turquoise: 7 past producers, 6 unknowns, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Copper, Gold, Silver, Copper, Gold. 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
Garnet GroupCopperUnknown
Garnet MineGold, Silver, CopperPast Producer1887, 1953
Lucky MinesIron, Copper, GoldPast Producer
Monte Carlo ClaimsBarium-Barite, Gold, ManganeseUnknown
Nannie Baird GroupIron, Gold, CopperPast Producer
Nannie Baird MineCopper, Gold, Silver, LeadPast Producer1895, 1897, 1932
State Hwy Pit No 58-48-SStoneUnknown
By Chance MineCopper, Gold, SilverPast Producer1950, 1960
Lucky MineCopper, Gold, SilverPast Producer1897, 1929
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Otero County

Storms near this place

5 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Turquoise in 5 storm reports between 2010 and 2014: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. 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
October 2010HailTurquoise$1,000Bureau of Land Management employee reported baseball sized hail on highway 506 about 1 mile east of Highway US54. Vehicle was damaged due to the hail.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindTurquoise-A SAMS tower 5 miles west-northwest of Orogrande recorded a peak gust of 63 mph.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindTurquoise-A peak gust of 64 mph was reported 9 miles east-northeast of White Sands Main Post.
May 2012HailTurquoise-One inch diameter hail was covering the ground.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindTurquoise-A 65 mph gust was estimated at the Border Patrol Checkpoint north of Orogrande.

Every storm recorded in Otero 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
Benton Well3.5 miles11
Orogrande5.8 miles10
Elwood11.8 miles11
Martin Well13.9 miles11
Dunes15.2 miles9
Valmont21.0 miles9
Dog Canyon Estates21.0 miles9
Timberon21.7 miles9

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 899966. 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.