During this interval, the tornado was photographed by Professor Joe Henderson of Midwestern State University from the Ligon Coliseum (location #7). Ashley found that 69.2% of all tornado fatalities from 1985 to 2005 occurred in either mobile or permanent homes, illustrating the enhanced vulnerability of these particular housing structures. (Rated F2 by the NWS. Wichita Falls Tornado 1979. While only on the ground for 35 minutes, the 800-foot-wide twister killed seven people, injured 111, and destroyed 225 homes. Please Contact Us. Today. Assuredly, no two years weatherwise in Texas are even remotely similar, for the community that reeled one year from a capricious dry spell likely is the recipient of plenty of rain in the following year, while a not-too-distant neighboring locale that hurt from a disastrous hailstorm one Spring experiences relative calm during the following year's storm season. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. At the time we passed in front of the funnel the mud road had become slick enough that the car was not going very fast anymore. By the end of the day we had seen four tornadoes, Thalia, Vernon (although not well), Lake Kemp, and Seymour. 15:55 F2. Forty-two people were killed outright by the storm and 3 others died as a result of heart attacks. In addition, the author hopes that the analyses will serve as a handy source of reference to those who seek to recall the past and those whose research work attempts to relate the weather to other aspects of human existence. Toggle navigation. A furniture warehouse was also destroyed when severe winds tore the back wall and roof off of the building. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes. Flash Flood Warnings It damaged several homes and businesses before going into Wichita Falls where it . View looking west-northwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at wall cloud on the southwestern edge of the thunderstorm. Click on the numbers on the map below or on each individual photo to see a larger image of that photo. The heaviest damage in the apartments occurred in the second story of two-story buildings. ", 1 The Storm Prediction Center is now located in Norman, Oklahoma
The Southwest National Bank Building was completely obliterated, leaving nothing behind except for its vault. The mall was on the north side of the tornado path and appeared to escape the most violent winds. Weather Radio, About Us The NOAA Natural Disaster Report 80-1, "The Red River Valley Tornadoes of April 10, 1979" is available, and a synopsis and discussion of the event by Don Burgess can also be perused from this site. This storm appeared insignificant compared to what we had seen so we drifted southwest in search of something better. February 18, 2023 (64 years old) View obituary. Moving into the city, the tornado first struck Memorial Stadium and McNiel Junior High School (location #1 on the damage path diagram), severely damaging both structures. Questions? There is no doubt that hundreds of lives were saved by the news media and siren warnings. . Soon thereafter tornadoes were spotted near Crosby ton and Plainview and golfball size hail fell near Tulia, Afton, and Washburn (High Plains). Winter Weather A large number of cars were smashed and some people were killed along U.S. Highway 287. One thousand and sixty-two apartment units and condominiums were demolished and 130 damaged. Although high numbers of deaths have occurred in vehicles during tornadoes, the occurrences are rare. Other homes, barns, and outbuildings were damaged. The Wichita Falls area has been visited by tornadoes many times over the course of its history. We were worried that the rain would get worse before we set up the cameras which was not desirable considering we were on a dirt road. The southern supercell, the Wichita Falls storm, produced its first tornado at 1653 CST (4:53 PM) near Seymour, TX. Submit a Spot Forecast The tornado's first fatalities were recorded in the apartment complex and adjoining housing area. Winston Wells, View looking southwest at the approaching tornado northeast of Wichita Falls, Texas. Two barns were also destroyed and scattered across a field. those all. The second supercell spawned one that moved 74 miles (119km). The publication was written and prepared by George W. Bomar of Weather Modification & Technology Section of the Texas Department of Water Resources. -11 Wilbarger County, TX. McNiel Junior High, a new concrete/steel-reinforced building was not built well enough to provide safe shelter from the tornado. As a result of the early warning, the casualty list of 3 dead and 109 injured was relatively small despite the destruction of several hundred homes and businesses. It moved northeastward across U.S. Highway 287 into the Sunset Terrace addition, and then crossed the Red River Expressway (U.S. Highway 277) into the Lincoln Heights addition and eventually Sheppard Air Force Base. Severe, tornado-producing, thunderstorms erupted along the dry line and moved eastward along and north of the warm front, continuing into the night in central and northeast Oklahoma. 6. After dodging power lines, broken poles, and busted trees we dropped south on US 183/283 on the east side of Vernon. Local Storm Reports Final totals across three states were 181 killed and 970 injured. Two trailers were destroyed, and three homes were damaged. Wrecked cars were smashed against bridge abutments, a power plant was knocked out, and part of a high school was destroyed. One man was killed at a dairy farm in Dean. Photographs indicated that it was a large, cylindrical tornado with a well organized debris cloud. Elizabeth Lee Burk Newton 82 of Wichita Falls Tx. Summer Weather Safety All Nature. On April 3, 1964, a devastating F5 tornado hit the northern region of Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base. (This tornado was documented and rated F2 by Tom Grazulis in his book, Significant Tornadoes. Along the 5.6-mile-long tornado path, the area of total destruction was 100 to 200 yards wide with lesser damage occurring up to 500 yards in width. For the first time in years we altered that route. The video includes survivor accounts and safety information. The tornado originated from a weak thunderstorm with a radar top of only 16,000 feet. The killer tornadoes that ravaged parts of three Texas communities near the Red River late in the afternoon stemmed from a wave of very intense thunderstorms that developed shortly after noon when a dry line advanced rapidly eastward out of the High Plains ahead of an approaching Pacific cold front. Earlier on the same day, several tornadoes hit farther west. An aerial view shows the destructive force of a powerful tornado that swept through Wichita Falls, Texas, on April 10, 1979. One F4 tornado impacted Vernon, Texas. Several buildings were torn apart and a cemetery was damaged. Sixteen of the 25 got in vehicles to evade the tornado, and 11 of the 16 homes which were left did not incur damage by the tornado. February 20, 2023 (92 years old) View obituary. The twister was almost a mile wide when it entered the Faith Village neighborhood on the north side of the east-west oriented Southwest Parkway. The tornado continued into Clay County, resulting in no deaths, but 40 additional injuries. 15:25 F4. The storm that produced an EF-4 tornado a mile wide would ultimately leave over fifty people dead, displace one fifth of Wichita Falls' population, and change the landscape of our city forever. April 26, 1991, saw one of the biggest, if not the biggest, tornadoes in Wichita history. On the evening of April 10th 1979 an F4 tornado touched down outside Wichita Falls TX and carved a 47 mile long path of destruction that would become the costliest Tornado in United States History. In addition to the tornado, severe thunderstorm winds moved through the Wichita Falls area, downing trees, limbs, and power poles. Surface Maps Rob Satkus EF2. Following the deadly Red River Valley tornado outbreak, the National Weather Service, in partnership with FEMA and the American Red Cross, produced a documentary called "Terrible Tuesday" that chronicled the events in Wichita Falls on April 10, 1979. The tornado was also captured on film by Troy Glover from the roof of the Bethania hospital (location #8). 3. The Wichita Falls storm produced a third and final tornado about 2000 CST (8:00 PM) near Pruitt, OK. StormReady ), March 17, 1952 - A small, weak tornado touched down about 5 miles south-southwest of the Wichita Falls Airport where some buildings were unroofed and smaller buildings blown down. The following images and text copyright Gene Moore unless otherwise indicated. Home; Exhibits and Displays Living in Tornado Alley, I'm most familiar with tornados. Sirens blew as the tornado bore down on Vernon. View looking west-northwest from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. The spring of 1979 was a very active tornado period for the plains states. By the way, here's a USA Today article about the 1979 tornado with a photo of that monster. Pinterest. There were scattered remains of destroyed structures on either side of the road. We continued south passing a damage path across the highway from the Harrold tornado. Hail ranged in sizes "from mothballs to pineapples." Tornado warning and preparedness systems are worth the time and effort it takes to maintain them. The storm's second tornado, the terrible Wichita Falls tornado, formed at 1755 CST (5:55 PM) to the southwest of the city and moved through the southern and eastern sides of Wichita Falls shortly after 1800 CST (6:00 PM). The tornado exited Texas about 4 miles east of Byers, uprooting over 200 trees along the Red River. 5. A few hours earlier that day, another tornado tore through Vernon, killing 10 residents and injuring more than 60 others. This report summarizes the injuries and deaths associated with these tornadoes based on information from emergency department and hospital records and death certificates. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured by the tornado. April 8, 1961 - A small tornado formed near Kamay at 4:00 pmCST, moved northeast across the Wichita Valley Airport, and then moved into Sheppard AFB. Satellite Imagery, Forecasts Around 3:05 in the afternoon, the first tornado formed near Crowell, Texas. More than 1700 injuries occurred within Wichita Falls. NOAA Disaster Survey Report 80-1, Chapter 1. A tool shed was blown away, trees uprooted, and utility poles damaged, and the Pontiac Company building was destroyed. Barns were destroyed and homes sustained roof damage. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Huge pieces of debris thrown high in the air were clearly visible from miles away as the storm cut a swath of destruction through the city. Within 30 minutes the tornado, with a track that varied between 1/2 and 1 1/2 miles wide and 8 miles long, had sped across the southern portion of Wichita Falls. Moving into the air base proper, the tornado destroyed 5 unoccupied 2-story barracks, damaged a hanger, power installations, transformer station, paint shop, and the base's 10-story control tower. One person was injured. Half of the injuries sustained by Vernon residents were deemed critical by city officials. The effects of passage of both the warm front from the Gulf and later the dry line from the west were pronounced at points like Abilene, where rapidly falling surface pressures, a soaring temperature, and a sudden plunge in dew point (signaling the arrival of the dry line) identified well the events that combined to cause devastation farther to the north a few hours later (Figure 18). It then became calm before the winds began to pick up. March 3, 1973 - The Wichita Falls police department reported a small tornado touching down briefly in the vicinity of Midwestern University. One mobile home was completely destroyed on Bobby Point Road, prompting an F1 rating. Radio and TV stations aired the Tornado Watch so that most people were alerted to the threat and ready for warning messages and sirens that were to come later. In the Wichita Falls area, damage occurred to ~75 homes, 15 trailer homes, high school, and numerous outbuildings. by Glasstire May 2, 2017. 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