A rare tornado swept through Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Saturday night, ripping roofs from residential buildings, flattening trees and scattering debris across midtown neighborhoods, according to local officials and news accounts.
The storm struck shortly after 7 p.m. as an intense Pacific weather system moved across northern New Mexico. The National Weather Service in Albuquerque issued an urgent tornado warning at 7:01 p.m. for northeastern Santa Fe County, noting that a severe thunderstorm capable of generating a twister was located over the city and advancing north at 25 mph.
Extensive damage across midtown
Municipal authorities confirmed that the funnel touched down in neighborhoods several miles south of the Historic Santa Fe Plaza. The twister struck near the city’s Midtown redevelopment area, a commercial district containing apartments, a movie theater and a restaurant, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
First responders were dispatched to hard-hit residential pockets, including the vicinity of Rancho Siringo, Camino Chueco and Camino Carlos Rey. As of 10 p.m. Saturday, authorities had received no reports of injuries or deaths, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
City spokesperson Peter Olsen described severe destruction while surveying neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Olsen told the Albuquerque Journal that he witnessed fallen trees throughout the area and observed that a detached roof had landed in a front yard after bouncing off a house.
Photographs and video shared by residents on social media showed a distinct funnel cloud silhouetted against lightning-streaked skies. Motorists traveling near Santa Fe reported seeing a dark conical cloud descending as torrential rain began to batter the high-desert community.
Flash flooding and emergency rescues
Beyond the wind destruction, the storm dumped heavy rain and hail across the city, quickly turning streets, drainage channels and normally dry arroyos into rushing torrents. City officials urged residents to stay inside and avoid affected corridors so emergency teams could operate freely, according to coverage by KOAT Action News 7 and the Hindustan Times.
The severe weather caused severe gridlock along Interstate 25 on Saturday evening. Emergency crews also conducted a swift-water rescue to assist a motorist who became stranded in a flooded arroyo near the Santa Fe River, officials stated.
The weekend incident capped several days of severe weather across northern and western parts of the state. On Thursday and Friday, historic flash flooding displaced hundreds of residents in San Juan County, prompting state and local authorities to declare an emergency disaster.
An exceptional event for the high desert
Tornadoes are an exceedingly unusual sight inside the city limits of Santa Fe, which sits at an elevation of roughly 7,000 feet. Olsen told reporters that local officials struggled to remember a single previous instance of a twister touching down within the municipal boundary.
While tornadoes do occur in New Mexico, they typically form across the lower-lying eastern plains. National Weather Service statistics indicate that the state recorded an average of nine twisters annually over the three-decade period ending in 2024, with the vast majority concentrated in eastern counties. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records show that Santa Fe County had logged just 27 tornadoes in total since 1950.
Emergency crews spent Saturday night clearing downed branches and securing damaged properties. Weather officials and emergency management teams are expected to survey the neighborhood corridors to assess the full extent of structural damage and determine the twister’s official wind rating.
