NWS Lubbock

1969: An outbreak of at least eight tornadoes struck the far southwest TX Panhandle and adjacent northwest South Plains
this afternoon and evening. As early as 1 PM, a family of four tornadoes developed about ten miles south of Goodland and
moved northeast toward Needmore and Sudan. A fifth tornado was observed near Sudan. The length of the tornado paths varied
between 18 and 34 miles with path widths of 150 to 300 yards reported. The tornado nearest Sudan caused an estimated
$10,000 damage to buildings belonging to a cattle company; otherwise there was little or no damage to property from this
tornado family. Hailstones up to two inches in diameter accompanied the parent storm. By 4:15 PM, the sixth tornado
touched down seven miles southwest of Amherst and picked up a combine on the Joe Fisher Farm before depositing it on its
side 25 yards to the west of its original location. A trailer, loaded with 4,000 feet of aluminum irrigation pipe, was
emptied and hurled 50 yards to the north. About $10,000 in damage was incurred by this tornado. Around 4:30 PM, a seventh
tornado described as a blue-white rope dropped from high, black clouds onto open farm land about five miles southeast of
Dimmitt. For the next 45 minutes, this tornado was visible by area residents as it remained over open land causing no
damage. A satellite funnel cloud, perhaps briefly tornadic, was observed about 1/2 mile north of the parent tornado before
whipping around the main tornado in a counter-clockwise manner. One area farmer, W.A. Baldridge, who was planting tomatoes
in the same field which the tornado struck, calmly watched the tornado for 15 minutes even as it drew to about 30 yards
away. Baldridge stated the tornado sounded like a vacuum cleaner - no louder. When the tornado crossed the highway it was
about 20 feet in diameter, but by the time it reached its full size it was about 100 feet in width and the center of the
core was about 25 feet across. The final tornado this day occurred in Lazbuddie around 6:30 PM striking a trailer house
just across the street from the towns Post Office. The tornado picked up the trailer house before dumping it upside down
on a pickup truck demolishing both the house and the pickup. Total damage was estimated at just $700. Earlier in the
evening