wichita falls tornado 1979 deaths

The tornado was at the top of the hill less than a mile away. One more more brief tornadoes occurred within a larger area of straight-line wind damage in Lauderdale County. Two trailers were destroyed, and three homes were damaged. 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. It was a large, but distant funnel that may have been the beginning of the horrific tornado that moved through that city. The warnings were being broadcast repeatedly by two local TV stations and three local radio stations which were receiving continuously updated information over the emergency hotline connecting them with the Wichita Falls WSO. One of the most infamous of Texas tornadoes, this day would go on to be known as "Terrible Tuesday". While the leading edge of the moist, tropical air had already surged northward across the Red River, giving Wichita Falls a vigorous southeasterly wind and a climbing dew point (Figure 16), the advancing edge of much drier, continental air swept eastward out of the High Plains and undercut the less dense and more moist tropical air. In the early afternoon hours, three supercell thunderstorms formed. The funnel was quite close at this time and large black crows were caught up in the outer circulation. . ), June 6, 1936 - This tornado moved south into the northeastern edge of Wichita Falls, and was associated with the same parent supercell thunderstorm that produced the earlier tornado near Burkburnett. In the Wichita Falls area, damage occurred to ~75 homes, 15 trailer homes, high school, and numerous outbuildings. (Rated F3 by the NWS. At Sheppard Air Force Base, winds up to 70 mph tore countless limbs from trees and knocked out windows on some base housing units. More. The tornado then moved east-northeast into the Western hills neighborhood, south of Southwest Parkway. Local ", "Storm spotter networks were alerted. They were flying by faster than I thought any bird could go; I wonder what they thought After this scene the tornado became wrapped in the rain and difficult to photograph. Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 61, 1033-34. The storm intercept teams noted that the tornado developed from a rotating wall cloud in the Seymour area. Additional light rural damage occurred in the miles of Wichita County that the tornado covered. Fire Weather This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1979, primarily in the United States. Winter Weather Warnings 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. Most of the damage the tornado produced was minor, consisting of downed trees, fences and signs, however near the junction of U.S. Highway 281 and U.S. Highway 287, a machine shop composed of sheet metal sustained significant damage to the walls and frame when the roof was pushed upward, allowing the walls to cave in slightly. age through the southern half of tne city. It began at 4:57 p.m. about a mile-and-a-half south of Clearwater. Wrecked cars were smashed against bridge abutments, a power plant was knocked out, and part of a high school was destroyed. Storm Data, Weather Safety (Rated F5 by the NWS.). 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. - May 31st, 2010 . Please select one of the following: 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, NOAA Tech Memo NWS SR-209 (Speheger, D., 2001: "Corrections to the Historic Tornado Database"), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Near Kamay - Wichita Valley Airport - Sheppard AFB, NW Wichita Falls (FM-369/ Seymour Highway)- Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls (near Midwestern University), 3 ENE Holliday- Wichita Falls- 4 E Byers- NNE of Waurika OK, Wichita Falls (4 SSW - 1 E center of town). Tornado caused $3,500,000 to the downtown business district in. No injuries or deaths occurred during this tornado. Toggle navigation. After moving out of Faith Village, the tornado flattened several businesses, including a restaurant, on Kemp Boulevard. The tornadoes pictured here were part of the Red River Valley Outbreak, the biggest event of that year. There was much scientific discussion and debate concerning the possibility that the some of the damage was severe enough, and wind speeds high enough, for the tornado to be rated F5. 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). (This tornado was documented and rated F2 by Tom Grazulis in his book, Significant Tornadoes. 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. Only three times in my chase career have I seen vertical storm tower velocities this strong. The twister moved east-northeastward across the northern part of the city, and continued into Clay County before lifting at 6:10 pm CST near the town of Dean. Other homes, barns, and outbuildings were damaged. Minor damage occurred to some fences and the area. Sirens blew as the tornado bore down on Vernon. The tornado was preceded by strong winds, and then followed at once by heavy rain and hail, which covered a 200-square mile area. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. ), 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. Elizabeth Lee Burk Newton 82 of Wichita Falls Tx. Meanwhile, President Carter declared Oklahoma a major disaster area as a result of the tornadoes, making Federal funds available for relief and recovery efforts. Neighbors took shelter together while federal and local groups assembled. The two worst damage points appeared to be McNiel Junior High (location #1 on the damage path diagram; photos 9-15 on the damage photo tab) and the Southwest National Bank (location #4; no close-up photographs available). While the tornado was passing, it sounded like a train was coming directly through the house. There were at times five separate vortices visible within the tornado. As it turned out we would have driven into Vernon just before a major tragedy unfolded with injuries and death. Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. National Weather Service This huge F4 first touched down about 3 miles northeast of Holliday. The tornado was associated with a line of thunderstorms that produced very heavy rains in the Wichita Falls area. Storm Spotter Training The police chief and county sheriff conferred and dispatched patrol cars to the southwest edge of town to watch for the approaching storm. 15:55 F2. For. NWS ), April 20, 1951 - A small, brief tornado touched down near Wichita Falls and was accompanied by light hail. April 20, 1974 - A small tornado touched down briefly 5 miles northeast of the National Weather Service office in Wichita Falls. Wichita Falls plagued by tornadoes on April 10, 1979 A tornado set down at 5:50 p.m. about three miles east-northeast of Holliday. 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. About 1540 CST (3:40 PM), a tornado devastated the southeastern portion of Vernon, TX (11 fatalities). . Interview She and her family couldn't find their dog. 1 A tornado struck Waco and McLennan County on May 11, 1953, inflicting 114 deaths, 597 injuries, and damages of $4i.2 million. May 23, 1888 - A tornado moved northeastward and passed 6 miles west of Wichita Falls during the evening of May 23, 1888. The awesome "freight train like sound" was audible from the Weather Bureau Airport Station. Horner was . A concrete block building was destroyed, and another was partially destroyed. 44 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed. The formation of the tornado and its movement toward the Memorial Stadium and McNiel Junior High School were captured by Wolfgang Lange from the front of his apartment complex which was across the street from school building (Tornado Track Figure; Location #2). Aug 23, 2005 163 3 0 58 Norman Ok www.chasestories.com. Local Storm Reports Overall, the outbreak killed 58 people and injured 1,927 others. On April 10, 1979, a devastating tornado struck Wichita Falls in North Texas. However, several small communities, among them Harrold, Texas and Grandfield, Oklahoma, were hit by the storm. Earlier on the same day, several tornadoes hit farther west. Undoubtedly, this earlier warning and the afternoon Vernon tornado had primed the Wichita Falls populace to the threat of additional tornado activity. The atmosphere in the Low Rolling Plains was highly unstable (with a Totals Index above 50 and a strong positive K Index extending southward out of western Oklahoma); very vigorous lifting of such unsettled air by the advancing dry line seemed sure to trigger violence (Figure 14). 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. 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. There were scattered remains of destroyed structures on either side of the road. Click on the numbers on the map below or on each individual photo to see a larger image of that photo. Eyewitnesses described details of the storm differently, but they were unanimous on one point -- it was an awesome, terrifying experience beyond anything they had encountered before. Hail ranged in sizes "from mothballs to pineapples." Total damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400 million (in 1979 dollars). The tornado moved eastward, was a visible as a column of dust that extended from the ground to the base of its parent thunderstorm, and was probably a landspout tornado. Final totals across three states were 181 killed and 970 injured. Apr 20, 2012 - The April 10, 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls. ), 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. Submit a Spot Forecast July 21, 1961 - A small, weak tornado touched down briefly in the eastern part of Wichita Falls, about 3 miles from the airport. Property damages to both civilian properties and Sheppard were set at over $15 million. Rivers and Lakes Using spotter and radar reports, Lawton officials sounded the siren system to warn the people of the approaching storm. We continued south passing a damage path across the highway from the Harrold tornado. This line raced northeastward, spilling heavy rains, hail and high winds on numerous communities. The storm spawned a second tornado that moved through the south and east sides of Wichita Falls at around 6:00 pm. Read More. Tornado data and F-scale ratings for tornadoes from 1950 to the present are referenced from NWS records. Prior to its touchdown, a funnel was first observed about 10 miles to the west-southwest. Tours. Several strong to violent tornadoes touched down throughout the region that day. Seymour area 163 3 0 58 Norman Ok www.chasestories.com first observed about 10 miles to the downtown district. 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