Barns were destroyed and livestock was killed, including horses on two farms. Other data was found using U.S. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. As the first violent tornado on record to hit the Wichita Falls area, [18] it left seven dead and more than 100 injured. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Flash Flood Warnings Caused $190,000 in damage. The passage of a violent tornado through an 8-mile section of a city is an almost unheard-of natural disaster. The intense damage averaged between one quarter and one half of a mile in width. Satellite Imagery, Forecasts We sat up to photograph to the east of the tornado and shot back west and north as it passed. Life Cycle of the Wichita Falls Tornadic Storm. 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. ), March 27, 1939 - This tornado touched down north-northwest of Wichita Falls and moved northeastward into Clay County. A storm appeared on the horizon that had developed far to our south near Abilene. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at wall cloud on the southwestern edge of the thunderstorm. The third supercell was the one that formed the Seymour and Wichita Falls tornadoes as part of a three-member tornado family. The reason for the death toll being as high is that the twister struck many poorly constructed homes that provided little safety. ), 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. A woman was injured when her truck rolled into the ditch in which she was taking cover. Only 5 of the homes that were left actually incurred damage. 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, The suffering and destruction caused by the Wichita Falls tornado is nearly inconceivable. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. 25 of the 42 fatalities from the tornado were vehicle related, 16 of which were of people who left their homes to evade the massive tornado. The tornado leveled a mobile home park on the north side of U.S. Highway 287, but residents had evacuated that area and no fatalities occurred in the park. To Forecast Discussion, Warnings and Other Products Robert Molet. ", "Storm spotter networks were alerted. Although high numbers of deaths have occurred in vehicles during tornadoes, the occurrences are rare. The Southwest National Bank Building was completely obliterated, leaving nothing behind except for its vault. Preprints, 12th Conference Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 441-443. Deaths An Estimated 42 people died View looking west-southwest at the approaching tornado from Ligon Coliseum at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. Is it curse or coincidence? The third member of the family formed near Waurika, Oklahoma, at around 8:00p.m. A fourth tornado touched down just outside of Seymour an hour later, but again damage was comparatively minor. The tornado was also captured on film by Troy Glover from the roof of the Bethania hospital (location #8). 1970s. Surface Maps Per the SPC Database, 25 tornadoes occurred mainly in TX and OK with one lone tornado in KS. Two oil storage tanks were blown away and several homes were unroofed near Farm Road 2650 as the tornado approached Wichita Falls. It began at 4:57 p.m. about a mile-and-a-half south of Clearwater. [8] The tornado cut a path 8 miles (13km) through the city, with significant devastation. Select western north Texas tornado statistics by decade, county or city from the menus or maps below. Ben Faltinowski. Data modified as described in NOAA Tech Memo NWS SR-209 (Speheger, D., 2001: "Corrections to the Historic Tornado Database"). For the first time in years we altered that route. According the Weather Bureau from the time, "The large funnel alternately dipped and soared, and was followed by trailer funnel, 2 funnels touched ground; witnesses reported spotting a third." As the tornado crossed Kemp Boulevard in Wichita Falls, several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, were destroyed with several additional fatalities. The Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak of 10 April 1979 Location Help Wintry and Cold Conditions Continue Across Much of the U.S. All NOAA. McNeil Junior High school was next in the path of the tornado and the school was severely damaged. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings NOAA Disaster Survey Report 80-1, Chapter 1. The formation of the tornado and its movement toward the stadium and junior high were captured by Wolfgang Lange from the front of his apartment complex which was located across the street from the junior high (location #2). As it moved north of Southwest Parkway, the tornado destroyed many homes in both the Western Hills Addition and the Faith Village Addition and severely damaged Ben Milam Elementary School. 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. Several trailers were destroyed. By noon, all doubt was gone. Large tornado destroyed several barns and scattered debris over a large area. All the storms this day exhibited violent cloud motions. According to the American National Red Cross, 7,759 families suffered losses in the storms (Table 1). It was spectacular to watch! Property damages to both civilian properties and Sheppard were set at over $15 million. Suite 2400Norman, OK 73072(405) 325-3816Comments? Rob Satkus EF2. by Glasstire May 2, 2017. I didn't want to move. Norman, OKNational Weather Center120 David L. Boren Blvd. ", "When the giant tornado struck Wichita Falls just before 6:00 p.m., most people were not surprised. Local Enhanced Radar (Central Oklahoma-KTLX), Local Standard Radar (KTLX-low bandwidth), Local Enhanced Radar (Southwest OK/Western North TX-KFDR), Local Standard Radar (KFDR-low bandwidth), Local Standard Radar (KVNX-low bandwidth), Averages and Records for OKC, Wichita Falls & Lawton, radar-derived storm tops exceeded 50,000 feet and reflectivities were higher than 50 dBZ, a core of greater than 50 dBZ and two mesocyclones, tornado-associated mesocyclone and hook echo in the right rear portion of the echo, its movement toward the stadium and junior high, >many cars in the mall parking lot were blown some distance and stacked on top of each other, Map of the Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak in North Texas and southern Oklahoma by (Fujita and Wakimoto), Map of Significant Weather Events which occurred between 6 AM CST April 10, 1979 and 6 AM CST April 11, 1979 (Burgess), Tornado Watch Box #67 issued by the National Severe Storms Forecast Center - valid 230 PM to 700 PM CST, April 10, 1979, Storm Track of the Wichita Falls, Texas Supercell on April 10, 1979 (Burgess), Time/Height Profile of the Wichita Falls, Texas Supercell on April 10, 1979 (Burgess), Map of Radar Reflectivity and Mesocyclone Positions of the Wichita Falls, Texas Supercell at 530 pm CST, April 10, 1979 (Burgess), Map of Radar Reflectivity and Mesocyclone Position of the Wichita Falls, Texas Supercell at 600 pm CST, April 10, 1979 (Burgess), Approximate Damage Path of the Wichita Falls Tornado on April 10, 1979 (, Map of the Red River Valley Area of Oklahoma and Texas Showing Communities and Counties Affected by the April 10, 1979 Tornadoes (NOAA Natural Disaster Report 80-1), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Wichita Falls area has been visited by tornadoes many times over the course of its history. Soon thereafter tornadoes were spotted near Crosby ton and Plainview and golfball size hail fell near Tulia, Afton, and Washburn (High Plains). The Red River Valley Tornadoes of April 10, 1979. . More Observations Had we gotten stuck in the damage of the town the chase would have been over. It then moved into Clay County and changed its appearance to display a multiple-vortex structure. Flood/Flash Flood Safety After the tornado, a thorough investigation of the damage was performed by Texas Tech University, Institute for Disaster Research, and the University of Chicago. The long, slender tornado was milky white in appearance and was accompanied by a loud roar. Eddie complained, but kept fighting the wheel. Tornado was well documented on film and by NSSL storm researchers. Final totals across three states were 181 killed and 970 injured. It was on the ground for 11 miles. A 368-foot radio antenna and 2 others antennas were blown down, and multiple power lines were downed. Fire Weather Storm Spotter Training Thus, the tornado damage/intensity was officially rated as a strong F4 tornado. 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. From the blizzards that traditionally pound the Panhandle each winter to the enduring heat that scorches vast sections of Texas later in the summer, Texas in the meteorological sense truly is the "Land of Contrast." A small home was swept away in the affected area, and factories and warehouses were unroofed. Winter Weather Warnings (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. About 1540 CST (3:40 PM), a tornado devastated the southeastern portion of Vernon, TX (11 fatalities). Please try another search. 38 On April 10, 1979, a series of deadly tornadoes broke out near the Texas-Oklahoma border. There was strong upper level dynamics all coming together to produce strong tornado-producing supercells. ), 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. Crossing into Oklahoma, the tornado inflicted additional damage near Waurika before dissipating. After taking his last picture of the approaching tornado, Mr. Lange retreated to the apartment complex laundry room and hid between heavy commercial washers and dryers, escaping with only minor injuries. Published In . 1 A tornado struck Waco and McLennan County on May 11, 1953, inflicting 114 deaths, 597 injuries, and damages of $4i.2 million. NWS We proceeded southwest toward Seymour witnessing a small tornado near Lake Kemp that was accompanied by golf ball size hail. Three houses were destroyed and several others were damaged. 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. April 10, 2001 - This tornado developed on the south side of Wichita Falls at 11:46 pmCST, a short distance from Lake Wichita. Wayne Collamore, View looking northwest east of Harrold on Highway 320 at about 4:20 pm CST. ), June 6, 1936 - A "double twister" was observed by a large gathering of people in Burkburnett as it moved southwest and struck the southwest edge of the city. Winston Wells, View looking southwest at the approaching tornado northeast of Wichita Falls, Texas. Total damage in the city was estimated at $400 million; five thousand families (or about 20,000 people) were left homeless. Apr 20, 2012 - The April 10, 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls. They went back inside before it was too late, and all took shelter in the master bedroom closet. At about the time the tornado was developing at Harrold, 1.5 to 3 inch diameter hailstones were reported 7 miles west of Harrold. It was produced in 1984 and has a run time of 19 minutes, 30 seconds. Further to the northeast we could see a very large tornado with reddish suction spots rotating about the circulation. The Vernon tornado destroyed a restaurant, motel, a farm implement store, and more than a dozen homes; damage totaled $27 million. Thanks to Bob Davies-Jones from NSSL we saw another tornado as the storm moved into Wichita Falls. One F4 tornado impacted Vernon, Texas. The Wichita Falls tornado formed several miles southwest of the city in Archer County, and traveled over mostly open terrain. Wayne Collamore, Approaching Harrold, Texas from the southeast on Highway 287 - view is looking west at about 4:05 pm CST. Approaching Harrold, Texas from the southeast on Highway 287 - view is looking west at 4:00 pm CST. During its life, radar-derived storm tops exceeded 50,000 feet and reflectivities were higher than 50 dBZ. Minor wind damage and hail to 2 inches in diameter occurred north of the tornado track in Wichita Falls, in conjunction with its parent supercell. 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. Home; Exhibits and Displays We examined the circumstances of death and injury among victims of the tornado that struck Wichita Falls, Texas, on 10 April 1979. Summer Weather Safety Museum of the Kansas National Guard . Pat Blacklock. This image was taken as the tornado widened and approached our position. Rivers and Lakes Tornado Warnings, Climate and Past Weather At the end of the outbreak, 54 people lost their lives in Texas, three were killed in Oklahoma and one was killed in Indiana. 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