The Wichita Falls tornado of April 10, 1979 was one of thirteen tornadoes which rampaged across parts of north Texas and Oklahoma that "Terrible Tuesday." This over one mile-wide beast. Only 5 of the homes that were left actually incurred damage. ), June 6, 1936 - A tornado touched down at 5:20 pm CST and moved southeastward over a path of 440 yards wide by four miles long caused damage of $50,000 in Wichita Falls and injured two people, although one person may have been hurt due to a lightning strike. At about the mid-point in the atmosphere (around 500 mb), significant cold air advection occurred, thus exacerbating unsettled conditions, already present (Figure 23). February 21, 1994 - Thunderstorms developed in the western part of north Texas during the afternoon hours of February 21st and produced a small weak tornado, hail up to nickel size and damaging winds. Residents of Seymour reported that the tornado was preceded by very heavy rain and hail almost 2 inches in diameter. The northeastern mesocyclone in the mesocyclone pair was the occluding parent circulation of the Seymour tornado while the southwestern mesocyclone in the pair was the developing parent circulation of the Wichita Falls tornado. Also, tornado survivors said that some golf ball size hail fell prior to and immediately after the tornado. Per the SPC Database, 25 tornadoes occurred mainly in TX and OK with one lone tornado in KS. We decided to make a break for it to the east which was not a smart move. In slightly more than 10 minutes, the tornado passed across the southern tip of the city leaving 11 dead, more than 60 injured, and several hundred homes destroyed or damaged. Lawton was as ready as a community could be for the tornado. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. The large Wichita Falls F4 tornado moving through town. passed away on Thursday, February 23, 2023 in Wichita Falls Texas. A 368-foot radio antenna and 2 others antennas were blown down, and multiple power lines were downed. As we drove northeast on US 70, debris was still falling to the ground. The inner hallways would have been the only relatively safe shelter in the building. Published In . Past Weather Events auto-related; 16 of that total died while in their autos trying to flee the storm, and 11 of that number abandoned homes not touched by the tornado. Deaths An Estimated 42 people died Three isolated supercells, forming in mid afternoon, moved northeastward as a trio and were responsible for the worst part of the outbreak. In 1978 Wichita Falls was the host of the first NCAA Division I-AA championship game. 128 followers. The giant tornado was a massive black column extending from the low striated base of the inky clouds to the ground. With surface pressures in the southern High Plains plunging rapidly, a low pressure center formed in the vicinity of Lubbock around noon (Figure 15). Beyond the shopping mall, the tornado crossed a greenbelt area, skirted Midwestern University on its south side, and severely damaged several more housing additions (Colonial Park, Hursh, Southmoor, Southwinds, and Southern Hills). Sirens blew as the tornado bore down on Vernon. A number of people were also killed or injured in the parking lot of Sikes Senter (sic) Mall, also on Kemp Boulevard. The Wichita Falls tornado formed in Archer County and moved northeast and damaged a few rural homes and high voltage towers at F1-F2 intensity. But before the day's end, three very large, devastating tornadoes swept across the area leaving scores dead and hundreds injured. To Local Flash Flood Warnings Just after 5:00 p.m., another tornado spawned by the same thunderstorm system crashed into Lawton, Oklahoma. ", "The thunderstorm system that produced the Vernon tornado crossed the Red River and left a 50-mile-long skipping track of tornado damage through Oklahoma. Norman, OKNational Weather Center120 David L. Boren Blvd. Here we goa hymn request from Erlene: Great Is His Faithfulness, sung by the Collingsworth Family. Forty-two people were killed outright by the storm and 3 others died as a result of heart attacks. 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. We also assessed the protective measures taken by a representative sample of community residents who suffered no major injury in order to estimate the relative risk of injury to people directly in the tornado's path . Pat Blacklock, View looking north-northwest from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. Suite 2400Norman, OK 73072(405) 325-3816Comments? Additional tornadoes were reported across the Southern Plains as well as in the Mississippi River Valley on April 1112. Witnesses say the several distinct, small vortices were visible during the formative stage of the tornado as it moved along the Fort Worth and Denver railroad into Wichita County. The heaviest damage in the apartments occurred in the second story of two-story buildings. The trees on the southwest edge of the city were denuded of limbs and bark. It damaged homes and oil storage tanks as it moved east toward Wichita Falls. Approximately 30 houses in the addition were damage with some houses suffering extensive damage. I'm surprised he got the tornado in the frame. Daily Weather History The tornado expanded in size as it crossed Southwest Parkway, throwing automobiles about and leveling a number of businesses, including a bank and a fire station. The tornado dissipatedtwo minutes later and caused no damage. 6. Most people heeded the warnings and took shelter inside interior, small rooms in their homes. Tornado data and F-scale ratings for tornadoes from 1950 to the present are referenced from NWS records. Tours. One group of violent thunderstorms roared across the northern Low Rolling Plains late that afternoon and spawned a series of tornadoes that ripped through four Texas communities. View obituary. Living in Tornado Alley, I'm most familiar with tornados. Excerpts from the Texas Department of Water Resources publication, "A Review of Texas' Weather in 1979: The Year of Devastating Tornadoes and Flash Floods," is also available. For the first time in years we altered that route. A sharp temperature gradient immediately preceded the movement of the drier air into the region at 850 mb (Figure 20), while at 700 mb the axis of maximum winds was positioned directly overhead the upper Red River valley (Figure 21) and appreciable vertical motion was evident (Figure 22). The tornado killed 42 Wichita Falls residents and caused over $200 million in damages, leaving 20 percent of the city's population homeless. ), March 31, 1892 - A tornado hit parts of Iowa Park where a house was moved 30 feet and destroyed, injuring 3 occupants. Numerous other disruptive weather events, including torrential, flash-flooding rains, scattered but frequent incidents of hail, and a widespread dust and sand storm, highlighted April, an unusually wet but seasonably mild month for most Texans. Severe Weather Safety The tornado was preceded by strong winds, and then followed at once by heavy rain and hail, which covered a 200-square mile area. More destruction from the Wichita Falls tornado, Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 02:48, List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Wichita Falls, TX Tornadoes (1900-Present)", "The Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak of 10 April 1979", "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 18901999", 10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2, The Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak of April 10, 1979, Full map of the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak, 47miles.org - A project to construct a memorial to the Wichita Falls tornado, Terrible Tuesday - Wichita Falls, Texas Tornado 1979, Terrible Tuesday (1979) Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak, Terrible Tuesday: April 10, 1979 in Wichita Falls, Texas, Coming Back: Wichita Falls, TX Tornado - April 10, 1979 KAUZ-TV, Bridge Creek, Moore, & Oklahoma City (Metro), OK, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1979_Red_River_Valley_tornado_outbreak&oldid=1141443347. Watch on. Further to the northeast we could see a very large tornado with reddish suction spots rotating about the circulation. McNiel Junior High School is shown in the middle left of this and all of the following photos. Burgess, D. W., 1982. Those sources of meteorological data used in this report consist of: official rainfall, snowfall, temperature, wind, sunshine, and moisture data as provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the publications, "Climatological Data: Texas," "Local Climatological Data" (for selected cities), "Storm Data, and "Daily Weather Maps;" weather teletype reports (circuits "A" and "C") from the National Weather Service surface and upper-air observing network; surface and upper-air facsimile charts provided by the National Meteorological Center of NOAA; newspaper accounts; and photographic data obtained by the author. Northeast of Wichita Falls, the tornado entered Clay County and changed its appearance. The brick building at the water works plant was heavily damaged, and a woman suffered a broken back when her home was destroyed 3 miles south of Burkburnett. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. About 65 people attended the funeral. Wichita Falls(/wtt/WITCH-i-tah) is a city in and the seat of governmentof Wichita County, Texas, United States. Then the supercell spawned one that killed three people in Lawton, Oklahoma. A powerful tornado tore through the Wichita, Kansas, area Friday night, leveling dozens of structures in the city of Andover, according to officials. Fortunately, the strong and wide Harrold-Grandfield tornado spent its entire life in rural areas not striking any towns, but coming close to Harrold, TX (one fatality) and Grandfield, OK. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. A furniture warehouse was also destroyed when severe winds tore the back wall and roof off of the building. Each lasted for an hour or more and left a continuous track of ground damage 35 miles or longer. The night time tornadoes, although strong, were not as devastating as the ones that occurred in the Red River Valley during the afternoon. Forecasters at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City1 had to decide only how soon tornadoes would develop and how large an area would be threatened. The tornado was also captured on film by Troy Glover from the roof of the Bethania hospital (location #8). On that day, at least 13 separate tornadoes touched down in the Texas/Oklahoma area, striking Wichita Falls, Vernon, Seymour, and a number of other towns. Other ingredients for a volatile weather situation were also present: a major upper-air trough extending from the southern Rockies into northern Mexico, migrating eastward into western Texas and deepening significantly at the same time (Figure 11); a strong wind shear from the surface to 500 millibars and a thin layer of very moist air at the surface with rapid drying immediately above at about 700 mb (Figure 12 and Figure 13). The most recent exceptionally destructive storm to hit the Wichita Falls area occurred on April 3, 1964, when a tornado killed 7 people, injured 111, and caused $15 million in damages, including 225 homes that were completely destroyed. More than 40 died, and about 1,700 were injured. It was roaring down the hill fairly fast and my chase partner was concerned that we couldn't get out of the path. Cool Photos. April 10, 1979 by James R Mcdonald _ Joseph E. Minor April 20, 1979 . No fatalities or serious injuries occurred, but 13 people were treated for minor injuries, mostly as a result of flying glass. Rivers and Lakes On Saturday, June 28, 1924, a deadly F4 tornado struck the Lake Erie shoreline communities of Sandusky and Lorain, Ohio. -11 Wilbarger County, TX. Is it curse or coincidence? Composed of three funnels fused into one and powerful winds exceeding 250 mph, this F4-rated tornado remained on the ground for an hour, destroying over a fifth of the city, lifting cars into the air, tearing buildings apart, and destroying 2,000 homes. The awesome "freight train like sound" was audible from the Weather Bureau Airport Station. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Vehicles (cars, pickups, and trucks) are poor protection and should be avoided during tornado situations in larger cities where travel is congested and tornado escape routes are not readily available and open for use. In the upper atmosphere, the nose of an extremely strong jet stream wind maximum was moving eastward through northern Mexico, preparing to turn northeastward and take aim on Texas and Oklahoma. ), August 11, 1953 - This summertime tornado touched down at 7:00 pm CST in Wichita Falls and moved northeastward through the suburbs of the city. April 3, 1964 - A violent tornado struck the northwest section of Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base, killing 7 persons and injuring 111 other people. The North Texas town of Wichita Falls has seen three major tornadoesin 1958, 1964, and another in 1979. Away wichita falls tornado 1979 deaths Thursday, February 23, 2023 in Wichita Falls tornado formed in Archer County and moved northeast damaged. Chase partner was concerned that we could n't get out of the following photos the of. Story of two-story buildings moved east toward Wichita Falls Texas homes that were left actually incurred.. 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