Aztec, New Mexico facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aztec, New Mexico
Kinteel
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County Seat
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Aztec Public Library
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Location within San Juan County and New Mexico
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| Country | United States |
| State | New Mexico |
| County | San Juan |
| Area | |
| • Total | 17.15 sq mi (44.41 km2) |
| • Land | 17.06 sq mi (44.19 km2) |
| • Water | 0.09 sq mi (0.22 km2) |
| Elevation | 5,820 ft (1,770 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 6,201 |
| • Density | 363.44/sq mi (140.32/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (Mountain (MST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| ZIP Code |
87410
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| Area code | 505 |
| FIPS code | 35-05780 |
| GNIS ID | 2409767 |
| Website | aztecnm.gov |
Aztec is a city in, and the county seat of, San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. The city population was 6,126 as of the 2022 population estimate. The Aztec Ruins National Monument is located in Aztec.
Contents
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.1 square miles (34 km2), of which 13.0 square miles (34 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.8%) is water.
Climate
Aztec has a typical southwestern cool semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) characterised by hot summers, chilly though not severe winters, and large diurnal temperature variation throughout the year.
Summers are generally hot to sweltering by afternoon, though with pleasant mornings and low humidity. On average, 50 afternoons surpass 90 °F or 32 °C, though only two pass 100 °F or 38 °C, and only five mornings between 1991 and 2020 stayed above 68 °F or 20 °C. Mornings become chilly quite early in the fall: the usual frost-free period is from May 10 to October 6, and frosts have occurred as early as September 9, 1989 and as late as June 26, 1975. Winter afternoons, though, remain relatively mild: only two afternoons stay below freezing during an average year, although two mornings during an average winter fall to or below 0 °F or −18 °C, and 153 mornings fall to or below freezing. The coldest temperature has been −27 °F or −33 °C on February 8, 1933, and the hottest 106 °F or 41 °C on July 11, 2021 and July 18, 2023.
Due to mountain rain shadow effects, precipitation is generally low, especially during the early summer period between April and June. The wettest calendar year has been 1986 with 20.27 inches or 515 millimetres, and the driest 1917 with 2.90 inches or 74 millimetres. The wettest month has been August 1929 with 5.65 inches or 144 millimetres and the wettest day August 27, 2015 with 2.67 inches or 68 millimetres. Aridity severely limits snowfall: the mean is only 10.9 inches or 0.28 metres and the median only 8.5 inches (0.22 m). The most snowfall in a month has been in January 2024 with 26.9 inches or 68 centimetres, and the most in one day 11.0 inches or 28 centimetres on December 17, 1990.
| Climate data for Aztec, New Mexico (Aztec Ruins National Monument) (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1895–1902 and 1919–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 69 (21) |
78 (26) |
86 (30) |
89 (32) |
98 (37) |
105 (41) |
106 (41) |
105 (41) |
101 (38) |
92 (33) |
77 (25) |
69 (21) |
106 (41) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 56.3 (13.5) |
62.7 (17.1) |
73.3 (22.9) |
80.7 (27.1) |
89.2 (31.8) |
96.8 (36.0) |
99.1 (37.3) |
95.8 (35.4) |
90.7 (32.6) |
81.8 (27.7) |
68.7 (20.4) |
57.2 (14.0) |
99.5 (37.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 46.0 (7.8) |
52.5 (11.4) |
62.8 (17.1) |
70.6 (21.4) |
79.8 (26.6) |
90.3 (32.4) |
93.9 (34.4) |
91.2 (32.9) |
84.2 (29.0) |
71.7 (22.1) |
57.7 (14.3) |
46.4 (8.0) |
70.6 (21.4) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 31.6 (−0.2) |
37.0 (2.8) |
44.9 (7.2) |
51.7 (10.9) |
60.4 (15.8) |
70.0 (21.1) |
76.1 (24.5) |
74.0 (23.3) |
66.3 (19.1) |
53.7 (12.1) |
41.5 (5.3) |
32.1 (0.1) |
53.3 (11.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 17.1 (−8.3) |
21.5 (−5.8) |
27.0 (−2.8) |
32.7 (0.4) |
41.0 (5.0) |
49.7 (9.8) |
58.2 (14.6) |
56.9 (13.8) |
48.5 (9.2) |
35.7 (2.1) |
25.3 (−3.7) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
35.9 (2.2) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 2.8 (−16.2) |
8.1 (−13.3) |
14.1 (−9.9) |
19.9 (−6.7) |
29.7 (−1.3) |
38.2 (3.4) |
48.6 (9.2) |
49.5 (9.7) |
35.1 (1.7) |
21.6 (−5.8) |
11.7 (−11.3) |
3.2 (−16.0) |
−0.8 (−18.2) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −26 (−32) |
−27 (−33) |
−3 (−19) |
2 (−17) |
12 (−11) |
24 (−4) |
39 (4) |
36 (2) |
22 (−6) |
6 (−14) |
−7 (−22) |
−24 (−31) |
−27 (−33) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.90 (23) |
0.75 (19) |
0.77 (20) |
0.69 (18) |
0.71 (18) |
0.28 (7.1) |
0.96 (24) |
1.32 (34) |
1.13 (29) |
0.94 (24) |
0.94 (24) |
0.67 (17) |
10.06 (256) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 4.5 (11) |
2.3 (5.8) |
0.5 (1.3) |
0.2 (0.51) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.3 (0.76) |
0.9 (2.3) |
2.2 (5.6) |
10.9 (28) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 5.6 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 5.1 | 7.0 | 5.7 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 56.5 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 inch) | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 7.3 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Demographics
Aztec is part of the Farmington, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area.
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1910 | 509 | — | |
| 1920 | 489 | −3.9% | |
| 1930 | 740 | 51.3% | |
| 1940 | 756 | 2.2% | |
| 1950 | 885 | 17.1% | |
| 1960 | 4,137 | 367.5% | |
| 1970 | 3,354 | −18.9% | |
| 1980 | 5,512 | 64.3% | |
| 1990 | 5,479 | −0.6% | |
| 2000 | 6,378 | 16.4% | |
| 2010 | 6,763 | 6.0% | |
| 2020 | 6,201 | −8.3% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
Arts and culture
Aztec Ruins National Monument is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Aztec.
Parks and recreation
As of 2016, Aztec had 16 park and special use areas totalling of 153.5 acres (62.1 ha), and 15.6 km (9.7 mi) of pedestrian trails.
Education
Aztec Municipal Schools serves the City of Aztec and rural areas in northeastern San Juan County.
Infrastructure
Transportation
General aviation service is available at the Aztec Municipal Airport.
Highway 516 and U.S. Highway 550 pass through Aztec.
Utilities
Water comes from surface water sources, including the Aztec Ditch, Lower Animas Ditch, and the Animas River. The city maintains its own water treatment plant.
Electricity is maintained by the Aztec Electric Department, which has a compact electric system with 39 miles of distribution line. The city does not own any generation facilities. The city owns a short segment of 69 kV transmission line within its service territory, and it receives all its electricity through a single substation. As of 2023, the city purchased all its energy requirements from contracts with the Western Area Power Association and the Public Service Company of New Mexico.
Notable people
- Paul Bandy, member of the New Mexico House of Representatives
- Larry Harlow, former outfielder for the California Angels.
- Alex Kennedy, stock car racing driver
- Uma Krishnaswami, author of children's books
- T. Ryan Lane, attorney and member of the New Mexico House of Representatives
- Steven Neville, real estate appraiser and member of the New Mexico Senate
- Sandra Townsend, former member of the New Mexico House of Representatives
See also
In Spanish: Aztec (Nuevo México) para niños
