Rare Tornado Hits Santa Fe as Record Floods Swamp the Four Corners

Hundreds of families across the Four Corners region have been displaced from their homes after a series of severe weather events over the last several days. A perfect storm of tropical moisture and a surge of atmospheric river triggered flash flooding and tornadic activity across the region. Here is the latest on how residents are grappling with the trail of destruction left behind.

Four Corners Slowly Returning to Normal After Days of Destructive Weather

A potent storm produced days of severe weather across portions of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Although the floodwaters have now started to recede, many evacuated neighborhoods remained closed in northwestern New Mexico. Residents are anxiously awaiting news about when they can return home.

The worst of the flooding unfolded across the New Mexico communities of Shiprock, Bloomfield, and Farmington. Rivers overflowed their banks and roared across roadways and into homes. Search and rescue crews were dispatched to help stranded residents.

San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari confirmed that his own home sustained damage. Ferrari said that about 4 feet of water seeped into his house at the peak of the flooding.

The San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo, and Piedra rivers rose beyond their banks, sending water spilling out across roads and washing out bridges. Wastewater infrastructure was also damaged, including a Pagosa Springs sewer line attached to a bridge.

Although the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management confirmed that no rescues had been needed since Saturday, that does not mean that the danger has passed. The region is still dealing with power outages, contaminated sewage, and other threats as the cleanup efforts continue.

For instance, officials in Farmington urged people to avoid the riverfront area as the pavement was susceptible to collapse. Schools in Bloomfield, Farmington, and the Central Consolidated district were forced to close on Monday because of the hazards.

While New Mexico bore the brunt of the damage, the destruction crept over the border and into southwestern Colorado. The San Juan River at Pagosa Springs crested at 15.02 feet on Friday, eclipsing the high-water mark from the October 2025 flood. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) noted that the same river hit a record height of 20.91 feet near Shiprock, New Mexico.

After days of disruptions, travel slowly began to return to normal along U.S. Highway 160 between Pagosa Springs and Durango in Colorado on Monday.

Rare Tornado Touches Down in New Mexico

The most unlikely impact of this weather maker came in the form of a rare tornado touchdown. The twister hit the populated city of Santa Fe on Saturday evening. Residents described hearing what sounded like a train or a jet engine roaring ahead when the tornado tore off roofs and brought down trees.

The local National Weather Service (NWS) office preliminarily rated the tornado an EF1. The twister was on the ground for about 1.4 miles, damaging at least 10 homes.

Speaking to the rarity of the event, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) detailed that Sunday's EF1 tornado is the first one to hit Santa Fe since April 15, 1971. An F1 tornado also carved a 5-mile path through southern Santa Fe County on June 8, 1989. While it is not official, there are also reports dating back to 1893 of an EF2 twister touching down on the east side of town.

The storm that unleashed the tornado was part of the same weather maker that generated flash flooding across southwestern Utah on Thursday. The town of Hurricane, Utah, was left with substantial damage to homes and vehicles. This is the same part of the Beehive State that experienced a destructive flooding event in August.

While it has been a brutal stretch of weather for those in the Four Corners, the silver lining is that the influx of moisture has been beneficial for the drought-stricken Lake Powell. This major reservoir located along the border of Utah and Arizona has seen water levels rise about 9.5 feet since the middle of September. Despite this rise, water levels in the lake are still sitting at almost 20 feet below last year's measurements.

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