Last Map Update: Thu, Oct 29, 2026 at 3:56:33 am CDT


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Local Weather History For October 29th...
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1979 (29th-30th): An intense cold front generated two waves of severe thunderstorms this evening and late night across the
western South Plains and adjacent Panhandle and Rolling Plains. Strong indications of a tornado were observed by the Lubbock Weather Service radar over western Hale County that moved northeast into southwestern Briscoe County near 9 PM. The only verification received was a funnel cloud south of Plainview that was visible for 20 minutes. Golf ball size hail accompanying this first round of storms did damage homes and vehicles in Plainview. Around this time, a second, more extensive line of storms erupted from near Amarillo south-southwest to near Denver City and moved east at 20 mph. Much of the damage from this squall line was confined to Amarillo where wind gusts to 74 mph with large hail damaged six helicopters at the airport. Less than 10 hours later, a push of very cold air rushed south into the Panhandle resulting in a winter storm that lasted the remainder of the day. Near blizzard conditions were reported in the western Panhandle where over 400 vehicles were abandoned between Tucumcari and Amarillo. Although actual snow accumulations were said to be light with generally a few inches total, strong northerly winds up to 30 mph created drifts up to 12 inches on area roadways. The most devastating loss was the death of nearly 9,000 head of cattle ($3.5M) due to suffocation from snow plugging their nostrils. |