YearFinal SPC data

1969

608 tornadoes in 1969, with 764 hail and 1,510 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 195 F1 218 F2 139 F3 49 F4 7

Hail and wind show significant reports only (2 in or larger, 65 kt or stronger). Click a legend item to show or hide it, or "only" to see just that. Select anything on the map to open its record.

Tornadoes by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Hail reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Wind reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Storm days

Every day with a tornado, hail or wind report. Warmer colors mean more tornadoes; gray days had hail or wind only; a white ring marks a day with an F4/EF4 or stronger tornado.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Running count

1969 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19691991 to 2020 average1964 to 1974 (other years)

608 tornadoes in 1969, 51% below the 1991 to 2020 average of 1,231.

Counts by storm day (12Z to 12Z). Reporting changed a great deal over the decades, so years far from 1991 to 2020 are not a like-for-like comparison with the average.

Busiest tornado days

#	Day	Tornadoes	F/EF4+	Deaths	Strongest	States
1	06/26/69	18	0	0	F3	IA, KS, MI, MO, WI
2	05/16/69	16	0	0	F3	GA, MS, NM, TX
3	05/05/69	15	0	0	F2	CO, KS, NM, PR, TX
4	06/23/69	13	1	0	F4	KS, MO, MS, OK, OR, TN, TX
5	08/06/69	13	1	15	F4	MN, NE
6	04/18/69	13	0	0	F3	FL, GA, NC, SC, WV
7	06/29/69	13	0	0	F2	AL, IA, IL, MO, WI
8	07/15/69	13	0	0	F2	CO, MN, MT, SD, TX, WI
9	05/06/69	11	0	0	F3	NM, OK, TX
10	05/08/69	11	0	1	F3	KY, MS, OH, TX
11	05/10/69	11	0	0	F3	IL, IN, KY, OH
12	06/25/69	11	0	0	F3	MI, MN, ND, OK, SD
13	12/25/69	11	0	0	F3	FL, GA, LA
14	05/12/69	10	0	0	F3	NE, TX
15	05/31/69	10	0	0	F1	CO, KS, MN, NE, UT, WI

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/26/69	88	18	9	61	3 in	80 kt (92 mph)
2	06/21/69	75	8	15	52	5.5 in	67 kt (77 mph)
3	06/23/69	69	13	18	38	3.25 in	74 kt (85 mph)
4	07/03/69	59	0	12	47	4.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
5	04/16/69	54	9	37	8	4 in	80 kt (92 mph)
6	05/31/69	50	10	7	33	2.5 in	74 kt (85 mph)
7	06/25/69	49	11	5	33	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
8	06/22/69	47	8	13	26	1.75 in	61 kt (70 mph)
9	07/14/69	46	9	4	33	1.75 in	68 kt (78 mph)
10	06/29/69	43	13	12	18	2.75 in	65 kt (75 mph)
11	06/28/69	42	2	13	27	1.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
12	06/13/69	41	6	18	17	4.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
13	06/20/69	38	3	5	30	1.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	07/26/69	38	8	5	25	3 in	78 kt (90 mph)
15	04/18/69	37	13	11	13	3 in	52 kt (60 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	07/22/69	8 in	Eddy County, ND
2	06/21/69	5.5 in	Finney County, KS
3	05/11/69	5 in	Woodward County, OK
4	07/05/69	5 in	Chariton County, MO
5	08/03/69	5 in	Mercer County, ND
6	06/12/69	4.5 in	Runnels County, TX
7	06/13/69	4.5 in	Lubbock County, TX
8	07/03/69	4.5 in	Prairie County, MT
9	04/16/69	4 in	Beckham County, OK
10	05/05/69	4 in	Dawson County, TX
11	05/06/69	4 in	Jefferson County, TX
12	05/15/69	4 in	Borden County, TX
13	06/18/69	4 in	McCulloch County, TX
14	06/19/69	4 in	Eastland County, TX
15	06/20/69	4 in	Comanche County, OK

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	07/09/69	100 kt	115	Not given	Douglas County, KS
2	07/04/69	90 kt	104	Not given	Lucas County, OH
3	02/14/69	87 kt	100	Not given	Matagorda County, TX
4	07/03/69	87 kt	100	Not given	Adams County, ND
5	05/07/69	86 kt	99	Not given	LA
6	04/16/69	80 kt	92	Not given	Lyon County, KS
7	06/26/69	80 kt	92	Not given	Winona County, MN
8	07/13/69	80 kt	92	Not given	Craighead County, AR
9	04/21/69	78 kt	90	Not given	Portage County, WI
10	06/26/69	78 kt	90	Not given	Wabaunsee County, KS
11	06/28/69	78 kt	90	Not given	Carroll County, IA
12	06/30/69	78 kt	90	Not given	Chautauqua County, NY
13	07/26/69	78 kt	90	Not given	Buchanan County, MO
14	09/06/69	78 kt	90	Not given	Story County, IA
15	06/26/69	75 kt	86	Not given	Buchanan County, MO

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
01/23/69	F4	Fayette to Newton, Mississippi	MS	118 mi	200 yd	32	241
04/18/69	F4	Greenville to Union Springs, Alabama	AL	52.4 mi	500 yd	2	14
06/22/69	F4	Steelville to Potosi, Missouri	MO	20.2 mi	800 yd	2	22
06/22/69	F4	Bismarck to Farmington, Missouri	MO	15.1 mi	440 yd	4	14
06/23/69	F4	Garden Plain to Goddard, Kansas	KS	8.7 mi	700 yd	0	6
07/07/69	F4	Belle Fourche, South Dakota	SD	1.8 mi	133 yd	0	0
08/06/69	F4	Pine River to Hill City, Minnesota	MN	32.3 mi	833 yd	12	70

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
01/23/69	F4	Fayette to Newton, Mississippi	MS	118 mi	200 yd	32	241
08/06/69	F4	Pine River to Hill City, Minnesota	MN	32.3 mi	833 yd	12	70
06/22/69	F4	Bismarck to Farmington, Missouri	MO	15.1 mi	440 yd	4	14
08/09/69	F3	North College Hill to Owensville, Ohio	OH	22.2 mi	400 yd	4	247
05/27/69	F3	Anahuac, Texas	TX	1.5 mi	67 yd	3	0
04/18/69	F4	Greenville to Union Springs, Alabama	AL	52.4 mi	500 yd	2	14
06/22/69	F4	Steelville to Potosi, Missouri	MO	20.2 mi	800 yd	2	22
08/06/69	F3	Rice Lake to Two Harbors, Minnesota	MN	17.2 mi	117 yd	2	3
03/24/69	F3	South Boston, Virginia	VA	0.1 mi	20 yd	1	4
05/08/69	F3	Scio, Ohio	OH	2.0 mi	300 yd	1	14
06/22/69	F2	Oxford, Nebraska	NE	4.1 mi	10 yd	1	0
08/06/69	F3	Hill City, Minnesota	MN	12.5 mi	1,500 yd	1	3
12/25/69	F3	Kaplan, Louisiana	LA	1.5 mi	100 yd	1	8

Storm days. A day here runs from 12Z to 12Z (6 a.m. CST to 6 a.m. CST the next morning), the way SPC counts storm days, so an overnight tornado counts with the afternoon and evening before it.
Reporting changed over time. Tornado counts rose from the 1990s on as Doppler radar, spotter networks and cameras caught more weak tornadoes. Counts from different decades are not directly comparable, especially for the weakest ratings.
F and EF ratings. The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale replaced the Fujita (F) Scale on 02/01/07. Both estimate wind speed from damage, but they use different damage indicators, so each rating is shown with its own scale.
Ratings before the mid 1970s. The F Scale came into use in the early 1970s. Tornadoes from 1950 until then were rated afterward from newspaper accounts, photos and records, which tends to make those ratings less certain.

Titan Archive · a Tornado Titans project Data: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database · updated 10/03/26