Witnesses saw several small twisters during the formation. age through the southern half of tne city. [19] Each lasted for an hour or more and left a continuous track of ground damage 35 miles or longer. Just minutes later all counties included in Watch Area #67 were being alerted through statements by the NWS Forecast Offices (WSFOs) at Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. April 10, 2001 - This tornado developed on the south side of Wichita Falls at 11:46 pmCST, a short distance from Lake Wichita. 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. Brenda Lee Whitehead. Rob Satkus EF2. We examined the circumstances of death and injury among victims of the tornado that struck Wichita Falls, Texas, on 10 April 1979. Most of the deaths were in Wichita Falls and Vernon, Texas . Inevitably each year some sector of Texas suffers from the effects of a tornado strike, a blinding snowstorm, a violent hail-bearing thunderstorm, or a raging sand- or dust storm. The awesome "freight train like sound" was audible from the Weather Bureau Airport Station. The first of dozens of funerals to be held for those killed by the tornado that struck here Tuesday was held today for Terry Mahon, 17 years old, who died while working at a restaurant job she had taken to save money for a marriage she had planned for this summer. A darker version of this image shows the rain curtain extending around the vortex. Burgess, D. W., 1982. Dr. Ted Fujita of the University of Chicago used these surveys to estimate the F-scale and probable wind speeds associated with the tornado. 1979-04-10 Wichita Falls. The number of reported injuries approached 1,800 although hundreds of additional minor injuries were never recorded. April 10, 1979 - The tornado, which was part of a tornado outbreak in the Red River valley area, began at 5:50 pmCST on the southwest flank of its parent supercell thunderstorm about 3 miles east-northeast of Holliday. This huge F4 first touched down about 3 miles northeast of Holliday. In this stage, the tornado did extensive damage just south of Dean and near Byars, destroying a large number of rural homes, but causing no more fatalities. It didn't seem like any storms were in the area. To the north of Southwest Parkway, the tornado destroyed many houses in the Western Hills Addition. No fatalities or injuries occurred. Robert Molet. The tornado has widened and intensified at this stage. Several homes were demolished, and a number of barns were partially destroyed. After the tornado, a thorough investigation of the damage was performed by Texas Tech University, Institute for Disaster Research, and the University of Chicago. 2. Skywarn Storm Spotters Several brief touchdowns in Seymour resulted in scattered roof damage and one overturned truck. Over 100 commercial businesses, some of them large manufacturing concerns, were destroyed. Forty-two peoples were killed and over 1700 injured. 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. Summer Weather Safety It was spectacular to watch! An explanation of both the causes and effects of the many and varied weather systems that affected Texans during the year has been the central objective of this endeavor. Local In Texas: Clay, Foard, Wichita and Wilbarger; and in Oklahoma: Carter, Cleveland, Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Stephens and Tillman. 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. For the first time in years we altered that route. 1964, and another in 1979. Pat Blacklock, View looking north from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. 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. Read More. The following images and text have been provided by permission of the author are to be used for informational purposes only. Caused over $300,000 in damage to homes, barns, and a rock crushing plant. The third member of the family formed near Waurika, Oklahoma, at around 8:00p.m. Three people were injured. Undoubtedly, this earlier warning and the afternoon Vernon tornado had primed the Wichita Falls populace to the threat of additional tornado activity. Other homes in the area were damaged. Forecast Discussion, Warnings and Other Products Twenty-five of the deaths were. Further to the northeast we could see a very large tornado with reddish suction spots rotating about the circulation. The Wichita Falls storm produced a third and final tornado about 2000 CST (8:00 PM) near Pruitt, OK. Questions? The tornado finally ended near Waurika, OK after traveling 47 miles. The Wichita Falls storm formed north of Abilene, TX. Final totals across three states were 181 killed and 970 injured. The powerful vortex, although rated only F-2, had winds of over 200 MPH. 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. He later moved to Oklahoma City where he worked in TV weather before working for the federal government. Wayne Collamore. The Wichita Falls tornado cut a wide swath of dam. Hail ranged in sizes "from mothballs to pineapples." Severe damage in the Pruitt City area. By 1800 CST (6:00 PM), the storm had taken on a very classic supercell look with the tornado-associated mesocyclone and hook echo in the right rear portion of the echo. All the storms this day exhibited violent cloud motions. Rivers and Lakes Fortunately, no one was killed or injured by the tornado. We were rushed to get into position. Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 61, 1033-34. May 23, 1888 - A tornado moved northeastward and passed 6 miles west of Wichita Falls during the evening of May 23, 1888. That supercell was in progress just to our northeast, although there was no direct route to catch the fast moving storm. Weather Radio, About Us A short time later, the same tornado invaded Vernon, taking the lives of 10 inhabitants and injuring 67 others. Thunderstorm winds blew a sheet metal roof off a horse barn just east of Sheppard Air Force Base, tore off part of the roof of a radio station 6 miles southwest of Wichita Falls, tore a patio roof off a house in Wichita Falls. ), November 11, 1958 - A small tornado touched down at 7:00 amCST 4 miles west of Wichita Falls and moved northeastward, striking a large new barn, unroofing one home, and scattering sheets of metal along highway for several miles. View looking southwest at the approaching tornado northeast of Wichita Falls, Texas. There were a total 42 tornado fatalities in Wichita Falls, of which 25 were vehicle related. Three thousand and 95 homes were destroyed while roofs of many other buildings were sheared away. National Weather Service After the tornado left Wichita Falls and travelled northeast, it entered Clay County and changed its appearance. 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. 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. Cool Photos. These figures include 12 counties. Only three times in my chase career have I seen vertical storm tower velocities this strong. The tornado developed on the extreme northeast side of Seymour and moved northeast to about 2 miles north-northeast of Maybelle. 38 On April 10, 1979, a series of deadly tornadoes broke out near the Texas-Oklahoma border. After dark, another jet stream wind maximum moved northeastward into west central and northern Texas, sparking a second round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. By afternoon, the warm front had lifted to the vicinity of the Red River, and a new low pressure area had formed near Childress. The huge thunderstorm that yielded the Seymour tornado also pounded Holliday with baseball-size hail and an area west of Iowa Park with golfball-size hail. Most of the destroyed homes had some of these interior walls still standing after the tornado. Wichita Falls has had three major tornado strikes in its history. He died on July 16, 1979 in El Arenal, Spanje (Palma de Mallorca). Historic tornado in Wichita KS McConnell AFB 1991. 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). The middle supercell, the Harrold-Grandfield storm, produced the longest-track tornado of the outbreak (64 mile path length) at 1555 CST (3:55 PM). One tree near a house fell onto a power line, causing an electrical surge that set the kitchen of the house on fire. Just after 5:00 p.m., another tornado spawned by the same thunderstorm system crashed into Lawton, Oklahoma. It was the costliest tornado in history until the F5 Moore-Oklahoma City tornado struck in 1999. . During its life, radar-derived storm tops exceeded 50,000 feet and reflectivities were higher than 50 dBZ. Another tornado swept the community of Harrold soon thereafter, causing much less extensive damage. Casualty data were supplied by the Texas and Oklahoma NWS offices. Eleven of the 16 people left homes that were not even damaged. Watch. 1 A tornado struck Waco and McLennan County on May 11, 1953, inflicting 114 deaths, 597 injuries, and damages of $4i.2 million. In addition, many businesses, cars, trees, windows, TV antennas, and power poles incurred damage. Below are some quick facts about the event from the NWS Norman: No one was killed and only several major injuries occurred among the approximately one thousand shoppers who were in the mall. 128 followers. The half-mile wide tornado crossed the Red River into Oklahoma about 9 miles north-northeast of Electra. Pat Blacklock, View looking northwest from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. About 65 people attended the funeral. ), March 31, 1892 - A tornado hit parts of Iowa Park where a house was moved 30 feet and destroyed, injuring 3 occupants. I had never witnessed anything of this magnitude. Gene is a graduate of Oklahoma University who photographed storms when he lived in Norman, Oklahoma during the 1970s. On April 3, 1964, a devastating F5 tornado hit the northern region of Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base. Mr. Carter also dispatched a special assistant, Jack H. Watson Jr., to this city of 125,000 people in northern Texas to survey the tornado damage. apartments in dallas that allow airbnb Uncovering hot babes since 1919. Tornado Database As the first violent tornado on record to hit the Wichita Falls area, [18] it left seven dead and more than 100 injured. A tornado on the gust front developed at 3:01 pmCST near Wichita Falls Municipal Airport and traveled east approximately 1/2 mile before dissipating near Sheppard AFB at 3:04 pmCST. (Rated F5 by the NWS.). Graphical Forecasts 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. By the way, here's a USA Today article about the 1979 tornado with a photo of that monster. In addition, 93 mobile homes were devastated. The police chief and sheriff later said the approaching storm did not look like a normal twister, but appeared as a thick, dark mass of clouds low to the ground and difficult to see because of the heavy rain, hail, and low cloud base. (1979-2009) The Red River Valley Tornado. Two barns were also destroyed and scattered across a field. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The damage was quite hit and miss. Fortunately, on April 10, 1979, McNiel Junior High was almost totally unoccupied when the tornado struck and a worse catastrophe was avoided. The trees on the southwest edge of the city were denuded of limbs and bark. Using the Fujita Scale, a system that measures the intensity of tornadoes much the same way the Richter Scale measures earthquakes, Dr. McDonald rated the Wichita Falls tornado as a high F4 . 5) The Wichita Falls Tornado - April 10, 1979. It is estimated that 5,000 families, consisting of almost 20,000 people, were left homeless in Wichita Falls. Storm Pictures. Homes were unroofed and barns were destroyed. Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Waco, and of course Fort Worth come to mind, even Austin had one dancing around over the Capitol dome in 1922. Three barns were destroyed as well. ", "Early on April 10, NWS forecasters became aware of the threat of severe weather. 15:25 F4. The spring of 1979 was a very active tornado period for the plains states. Had we gotten stuck in the damage of the town the chase would have been over. Homes and businesses were torn apart in the McGehee area. During this period, large hail was occurring in the central and northern portions of Wichita Falls as the tornado devastated the southern portion of the city. The police chief and county sheriff conferred and dispatched patrol cars to the southwest edge of town to watch for the approaching storm. Air Quality Last year the Wichita Falls Museum of Art featured a show by the acclaimed American landscape photographer Frank Gohlke of his photographs of Wichita Falls in the aftermath of a massive tornado that destroyed so much of the town in 1979. The tornadoes destroyed the press box and lights at Memorial Stadium, which lead to the Pioneer Bowl being. Wayne Collamore, View looking west just east of Harrold on Highway 320 at about 4:15 pm CST. The following severe weather account is by Gene Moore. Strong inflow winds associated with the tornado and the larger-scale mesocyclonic winds rotating around the tornado produced light damage over almost all of the city. Troy Glover. Meanwhile, behind the dry line and cool front in the High Plains, the atmosphere quickly stabilized, and drying out was evident in the lower half of the atmosphere below 500 mb (Figure 26). Total damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400 million (in 1979 dollars). Elizabeth was born on January. The first tornado formed near Seymour at around 4:53 pm. Multiple vortices are seen in this photo. The Southwest National Bank Building was completely obliterated, leaving nothing behind except for its vault. Childress lay in the path of the advancing low pressure center, as surface pressure fell drastically and winds backed during the afternoon before the much drier continental air enveloped the region in the evening (Figure 17). Total damage in the city was estimated at $400 million; five thousand families (or about 20,000 people) were left homeless. Damage as severe as F4 was found along most of the track across 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. Several strong to violent tornadoes touched down throughout the region that day. Does Wichita Texas get tornadoes? McNeil Junior High school was next in the path of the tornado and the school was severely damaged. The tornado was also captured on film by Troy Glover from the roof of the Bethania hospital (location #8). On Saturday, June 28, 1924, a deadly F4 tornado struck the Lake Erie shoreline communities of Sandusky and Lorain, Ohio. Frank Gohlke's portfolio of 40 black and white photographs, which capture the devastation of the 1979 Wichita Falls Tornado and the landscape a year later, will be on exhibition to mark the anniversary of Terrible Tuesday, April 10, 1979. It generally moved to the northeast, but turned to the right along the middle of its path, the period during which it produced its violent tornado. Apr 20, 2012 - The April 10, 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls. Three people were injured in a mobile home near the beginning of the path. The storm killed eight people in Sandusky before moving east over Lake Erie and striking Lorain, where 72 were killed. 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 publication was written and prepared by George W. Bomar of Weather Modification & Technology Section of the Texas Department of Water Resources. Tornado Understand a Tornado: A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm down to the ground. Please Contact Us. By the end of the day we had seen four tornadoes, Thalia, Vernon (although not well), Lake Kemp, and Seymour. The Wichita Falls tornado alone killed 42 people and caused $400 million in damage ($1.93billion in today's dollars). 25 of those deaths were vehicle related. Records taken from the Storm Prediction Center archive data, "Storm Data", and data from the National Weather Service office in Norman. The tornado was preceded by strong winds, and then followed at once by heavy rain and hail, which covered a 200-square mile area. When it was all over, an 8 mile swath of the city over a mile wide was . Dissipation of the tornado occurred northwest of Waurika, Oklahoma, bringing the path length to 36 miles in Texas, and 11 miles in Oklahoma. Extensive wind damage to about 100 homes and outbuildings occurred in Burkburnett where two 40-foot smoke stacks were also toppled. [8] The tornado cut a path 8 miles (13km) through the city, with significant devastation. The video includes survivor accounts and safety information. 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. 3 Comanche County, OK. 17:05 F3. NWS 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. It was produced in 1984 and has a run time of 19 minutes, 30 seconds. Property damages to both civilian properties and Sheppard were set at over $15 million. We left NSSL in Norman, Oklahoma at 10:30 AM to our target of Vernon, TX. April 10th, 1979 started out like any other day in Texoma. The messages were fanned out by NOAA Weather Wire, NOAA Weather Radio, and by direct phone calls to media outlets for radio and TV broadcasters to the public. Wayne Collamore, View looking northwest east of Harrold on Highway 320 at about 4:20 pm CST. The President decided last night to send Mr. Watson to express his personal concern about the disaster, in which at least 58 persons were killed in four communities along the TexasOklahoma border 44 in Wichita Falls, 11 in nearby Vernon and Harrold, Tex., and three others in Lawton, Okla., 60 miles north of here. The Harrold tornado was in its formative stages at about the time the Vernon tornado was crossing the Red River. Several other mobile homes in the area sustained minor damage, and homes to the east on Carriage Lane also received minor damage. Deaths were near normal . David Ehrenfeld read the 23d Psalm over the pearl white coffin. Meteorologists still refer to that day as Terrible Tuesday because of the immense devastation and the sheer numbers. As the storm bore down, those who sought the safest refuge in their immediate surroundings generally fared well. The Wichita Falls storm produced its first tornado at 1653 CST (4:53 PM) near Seymour, TX. Eddie complained, but kept fighting the wheel. Aerial Reconnaissance photos- Source Don Burgess; Credit: NASA, Mission 399; Roll: #3; Film Type: 50-397; Frames: 041 to 050; Date: 4/12/1979, Damage photos - Source: Don Burgess; Credit: NSSL; Institute for Disaster Research, at Texas Tech University, Harrold, TX photos - Credit: Wayne Collamore, Doppler Radar images - Source: Don Burgess; Credit: NSSL, Satellite images - Source: Dennis McCarthy, Former MIC, NWSFO OUN; Credit: NOAA/NWS. Members of the Wichita Falls Repeater Club Weather Spotters manned their pre-planned command post on the NWS Office (WSO) and deployed radio-equipped members to vantage points that assured good observation coverage southwest of the city. Multiple locations were found. Two reports can be found on this web site. ), May 26, 1955 - A small tornado touched down briefly at 1:38 am CST, moved northeastward along a narrow, 1-mile path and demolished a "washateria" and produced severely damaged several utility poles, business structures, homes, and trees. This means that those people who moved to the center part of their houses, got down low, and covered themselves, by-in-large escaped with their lives, sustaining injuries instead of death. We couldn't make it into Wichita Falls because we almost ran out of gas. About 1540 CST (3:40 PM), a tornado devastated the southeastern portion of Vernon, TX (11 fatalities). There was strong upper level dynamics all coming together to produce strong tornado-producing supercells. Meanwhile, President Carter declared Oklahoma a major disaster area as a result of the tornadoes, making Federal funds available for relief and recovery efforts. The giant tornado was a massive black column extending from the low striated base of the inky clouds to the ground. wichita falls tornado 1979 deathsare there really purple owls "The damage path was one of the widest I have ever seen, and its intensity was almost equal to that of the giant . those all. Upper Air Maps The tornado then weakened slightly, but remained at F3 intensity, destroying the Sun Valley housing area, the Sunnyside Heights Mobile Home Park, and several large commercial businesses, including the Levi Strauss Plant, before exiting the east side of town. We didn't get phone guidance and it was before on-board equipment. On April 10, 1979, a devastating tornado struck Wichita Falls in North Texas. Losses eligible for Federal disaster relief totaled $63 million, but Federal disaster assistance did not cover additional millions in damages. 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. The width of the F1 damage was generally as wide as one mile, and the extent of the F0 damage was even wider, but so widespread that it was not mapped. The long, slender tornado was milky white in appearance and was accompanied by a loud roar. ", "Despite excellent warning lead-time and multiple soundings of the sirens, some people of Wichita Falls either did not hear the warnings or failed to take prescribed lifesaving actions. The Wichita Falls tornado, with how black . Earlier in the day around daybreak, low-level moisture from the Gulf was observed pouring northward through the heart of the State while much drier air was surging eastward across the Pecos River (Figure 10). People from the shopping center took shelter in refrigerator vaults, in restrooms, and under closets. Wayne Collamore, Approaching Harrold, Texas from the southeast on Highway 287 - view is looking west at about 4:05 pm CST. Several got extra protection by covering themselves with mattresses and pillows. Summer Weather Safety Storm Spotter Training Despite city officials' contentions that security measures were adequate, some survivors armed themselves and slept in their cars or makeshift shelters to protect their property. We decided to make a break for it to the east which was not a smart move. Mr. Molet continued to take photographs until the wind blew him into his garage. (Rated F3 by the NWS. 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. Instead of going through Vernon we dropped further south through Seymour, then north on Texas 267. Earlier on the same day, several tornadoes hit farther west. The first tornado formed near Crowell, Texas, at around 3:05p.m. About 35 minutes later, the first killer one of the outbreak ripped through Vernon and killed 11 people. Neighbors took shelter together while federal and local groups assembled. The tornado blew many of those vehicles off those roadways, inflicting numerous fatalities. The passage of a violent tornado through an 8-mile section of a city is an almost unheard-of natural disaster. Simon Cornelis Maria Vermeij was born on March 26, 1959 in Amsterdam, son of Hendrikus Gerardus Vermeij and Henritte Christina Maria Steur. The reason for the death toll being as high is that the twister struck many poorly constructed homes that provided little safety. 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. 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