Golfball-size hail fell prior to and immediately after the tornado passed along a track that took it into Oklahoma (where it dissipated near Waurika). We were rushed to get into position. Casualty data were supplied by the Texas and Oklahoma NWS offices. The damage was quite hit and miss. Continuing east-northeastward, the violent tornado destroyed a large portion of a residential neighborhood before heavily damaging a commercial building along Southwest Parkway. The April 10, 1979, tornado that hit Wichita Falls is the state's fifth-deadliest and one of the largest in U.S. history. 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. More. Interview She and her family couldn't find their dog. [7] It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. It rapidly intensified to F4 intensity as it entered the city near Memorial Stadium by McNiel Jr. High School on Southwest Parkway, which was located to the west of Wichita Falls at approximately 6:07p.m., damaging both structures severely. age through the southern half of tne city. 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. US Dept of Commerce David Ehrenfeld read the 23d Psalm over the pearl white coffin. National Weather Service Only three times in my chase career have I seen vertical storm tower velocities this strong. It then moved into Clay County and changed its appearance to display a multiple-vortex structure. This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1979, primarily in the United States. A large number of cars were smashed and some people were killed along U.S. Highway 287. US Dept of Commerce As the tornado crossed Kemp Boulevard in Wichita Falls, several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, were destroyed with several additional fatalities. Total damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400 million (in 1979 dollars). Aug 23, 2005 163 3 0 58 Norman Ok www.chasestories.com. If McNiel Junior High had been fully occupied by students and teachers at the time of the tornado, there would have been hundreds of additional casualties and many more deaths. Stones as large as two inches were reported further to our northeast. To the south of the warm front, moist, unstable air was streaming northward. We knew the storms were coming, but didn't want to meet fast moving cells head-on in the low visibilities north of the warm front. Wayne Collamore. Approaching Harrold, Texas from the southeast on Highway 287 - view is looking west at 4:00 pm CST. 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. 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. Storm Pictures. Daily Weather History (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. One F4 tornado impacted Vernon, Texas. The long, slender tornado was milky white in appearance and was accompanied by a loud roar. We were under an extensive rain free updraft area on the southeast side of the storm. The tornado finally ended near Waurika, OK after traveling 47 miles. Prior to its touchdown, a funnel was first observed about 10 miles to the west-southwest. About $15 million of damage occurred as the tornado destroyed homes immediately south of TX State Highway 79, from Wichita Falls into the Dean and Petrolia areas. Before leaving the east side of the city, the tornado destroyed the Sun Valley housing area, the Sunnyside Heights Mobile Home Park, and several large commercial businesses, including the Levi Strauss Plant. 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. Wolfgang Lange. About Our Office The other times were outbreaks on June 8, 1974 and May 3, 1999. The tornado killed 42 Wichita Falls residents and caused over $200 million in damages, leaving 20 percent of the city's population homeless. Wichita Falls Buries the First of 44 Tornado Victims, https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/14/archives/wichita-falls-buries-the-first-of-44-tornado-victims.html. 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. Unlike Mr. Lange, Mr. Molet did not have an unobstructed view of the western horizon and did not immediately recognize that the threatening cloud was a tornado. About 65 people attended the funeral. It's the day an F-4 tornado ravaged the city of Wichita Falls. April 10, 1979 by James R Mcdonald _ Joseph E. Minor April 20, 1979 . The late afternoon lighting was much different on this storm giving a yellowish cast as we looked southwest. My chase partner for the day was Eddie Sims who had chased for years with Jim Leonard. Three houses were destroyed and several others were damaged. ), 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. Local This storm appeared insignificant compared to what we had seen so we drifted southwest in search of something better. The tornado just missed two busloads of students who were returning from a game in Burkburnett. Tornadoes are capable of completely destroying well-made structures, uprooting trees, and hurling objects through the air like deadly missiles. Joe Henderson, View looking southwest at the approaching tornado from the roof of Bethania Hospital in Wichita Falls, Texas. 2. 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 . One thousand and sixty-two apartment units and condominiums were demolished and 130 damaged. February 16, 2023. Hazardous Weather Outlook Below are some quick facts about the event from the NWS Norman: In Texas: Clay, Foard, Wichita and Wilbarger; and in Oklahoma: Carter, Cleveland, Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Stephens and Tillman. See the article in its original context from. Damage also occurred to machinery, homes, and outbuildings. 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. The destructive and deadly tornado outbreak impacted the Red River Valley on April 10, 1979. The tornadoes pictured here were part of the Red River Valley Outbreak, the biggest event of that year. Numbers for 1979 were similar to that of 1980. May 23, 1888 - A tornado moved northeastward and passed 6 miles west of Wichita Falls during the evening of May 23, 1888. Hazardous Weather Outlook Thus, the tornado damage/intensity was officially rated as a strong F4 tornado. StormReady A destructive and deadly tornado outbreak impacted the Red River Valley on April 10, 1979. These are 40 before/after pairings, as he shot dramatically injured locations . After the tornado, a thorough investigation of the damage was performed by Texas Tech University, Institute for Disaster Research, and the University of Chicago. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. A woman was injured when her truck rolled into the ditch in which she was taking cover. ", "At Vernon, reports of earlier damage to the southwest of the city had alerted spotters and city officials. ", "Early on April 10, NWS forecasters became aware of the threat of severe weather. A killer tornado, which spread death and destruction through Wilbarger County and the city of Vernon during the mid afternoon on Tuesday, April 10, 1979, is pictured here as it formed near the Five-In-One Community. A thunderstorm that pelted the Coleman area with golfball-size hail also generated a tornado that caused considerable damage to power lines and outbuildings north of the city. Further eastward, most houses in the Faith Village Addition were destroyed, and Ben Milam Elementary School was severely damaged (location #6). Questions? A number of people were also killed or injured in the parking lot of Sikes Senter (sic) Mall, also on Kemp Boulevard. I survived an enormous North Texas twister on April 10, 1979 that took 52 lives when three vortexes merged into one. Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Waco, and of course Fort Worth come to mind, even Austin had one dancing around over the Capitol dome in 1922. Using spotter and radar reports, Lawton officials sounded the siren system to warn the people of the approaching storm. This was especially true of the Wichita Falls tornado, whose more than 1-mile-wide path of damage is one of the biggest on record. The Harrold tornado was in its formative stages at about the time the Vernon tornado was crossing the Red River. The storm spawned a second tornado that moved through the south and east sides of Wichita Falls at around 6:00 pm. Pinterest. Several got extra protection by covering themselves with mattresses and pillows. The Wichita Falls tornado, with how black . 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. "Automobiles are a steel death trap in a tornado . The police chief and county sheriff conferred and dispatched patrol cars to the southwest edge of town to watch for the approaching storm. The tornado then moved east-northeast into the Western hills neighborhood, south of Southwest Parkway. Ben Milam Elementary School was heavily damaged, as the cafeteria-auditorium was completely destroyed and exterior class rooms were pummeled by flying debris. 3. among them is this still life with tornado that can be your partner. Tornado warning and preparedness systems are worth the time and effort it takes to maintain them. Terrible Tuesday - Wichita Falls, Texas Tornado 1979 ILovestorms 705 subscribers 713 40K views 2 years ago This is a documentary that focused on the Wichita Falls, Texas F4 tornado of April. (Rated F5 by the NWS.). Frost Tornado. Dr. Ted Fujita of the University of Chicago used these surveys to estimate the F-scale and probable wind speeds associated with the tornado. those all. . Scary stuff. The large Wichita Falls F4 tornado moving through town. 44 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed. The Norman Doppler radar was used to collect dense data (0.5o azimuth spacing and 150 meter gate spacing) on the Wichita Falls storm during the interval leading to the formation of the violent tornado. T. T. Fujita, noted tornado researcher from the University of Chicago, said, 'The damage path was one of the widest I have ever seen, and its intensity was almost equal to that of the giant storm that leveled Xenia, Ohio, in the 1974 tornado outbreak. [19] July 21, 1961 - A small, weak tornado touched down briefly in the eastern part of Wichita Falls, about 3 miles from the airport. Those who were caught in automobiles and trucks made up a high percentage of the fatalities. The tornado was 1.5 miles wide as it passed through 8 miles of residential area in Wichita Falls. Over 100 commercial businesses, some of them large manufacturing concerns, were destroyed. In New York, Ernest W. Brinkman, vice president of the Underwriters Adjusting Company, said that most of the families affected by the tornadoes were getting substantial advance payments from insurance companies for emergency shelter and repairs. ", "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. Tuesday, April 10, 1979 seemed like a perfect spring day - right up until a tornado appeared seemingly out of nowhere, cutting a path through Wilbarger County and Vernon that left 11 dead, dozens injured and millions of dollars of property destroyed. 15:25 F4. Caused a total of $449,000 in damage. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. '", "When the day had ended, the tornadoes had left in their wake a tragically high toll -- 56 dead and 1916 injured. It began at 4:57 p.m. about a mile-and-a-half south of Clearwater. Amateur radio storm spotters turned in the first report of the storm, which allowed 5 to 10 minutes of valuable warning time. 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. No injuries or deaths occurred during this tornado. Earlier on the same day, several tornadoes hit farther west. 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. 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. Also nearby, about 10 utility poles were snapped near the top with debris falling on fences and other sheet metal buildings. At Sheppard Air Force Base, winds up to 70 mph tore countless limbs from trees and knocked out windows on some base housing units. ), 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. Some of these people had stopped their cars under an overpass on the highway, seeking shelter from the storm. There was strong upper level dynamics all coming together to produce strong tornado-producing supercells. Sixteen of these 25 were people who entered their cars trying to evade the tornado. Damage as severe as F4 was found along most of the track across the city. 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. Crossing into Oklahoma, the tornado inflicted additional damage near Waurika before dissipating. The Southwest National Bank Building was totally destroyed except for its concrete vault, a proxy for an above-ground shelter. The following severe weather account is by Gene Moore. Tornado caused $3,500,000 to the downtown business district in. A destructive and deadly tornado outbreak impacted the Red River Valley on April 10, 1979. Most people heeded the warnings and took shelter inside interior, small rooms in their homes. At 1730 CST (5:30 PM), a core of greater than 50 dBZ and two mesocyclones were seen with the storm. Nationwide, Current Conditions Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. Rob Satkus EF2. All NOAA. Homes were unroofed and barns were destroyed. Three thousand and ninety-five homes were destroyed and 600 were damaged. Norman, OKNational Weather Center120 David L. Boren Blvd. Wildfire Safety Thread starter Rob Satkus; Start date Apr 8, 2009; Forums. 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 . 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. 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