As it turned out we would have driven into Vernon just before a major tragedy unfolded with injuries and death. I had a good full frame shot of the suction spots rotating about the base of the funnel. We think this was the early stages of the Vernon tornado. 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. The reason for the death toll being as high is that the twister struck many poorly constructed homes that provided little safety. Precipitation was to our west through southwest and wrapped around the tornado. 1 Wilbarger County, TX. Winston Wells, View looking southwest at the approaching tornado northeast of Wichita Falls, Texas. Several strong to violent tornadoes touched down throughout the region that day. The tornado destroyed 2 homes north-northwest of Wichita Falls, and damaged 3 homes near Thornberry. 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. ), 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. 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. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at wall cloud on the southwestern edge of the thunderstorm. The tornado exited Texas about 4 miles east of Byers, uprooting over 200 trees along the Red River. The tornado then crossed over Kemp Boulevard and destroyed several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, resulting in several additional fatalities. Several strong to violent tornadoes touched down throughout the region that day. 1. Local (This tornado was documented and rated F2 by Tom Grazulis in his book, Significant Tornadoes. One thousand and 62 apartment units and condominiums were destroyed, and 93 mobile homes were demolished. It looked killer from the beginning. The destructive and deadly tornado outbreak impacted the Red River Valley on April 10, 1979. Forecast Discussion, Warnings and Other Products All the storms this day exhibited violent cloud motions. In the early afternoon hours, three supercell thunderstorms formed. Other data was found using U.S. Rivers and Lakes No fatalities or serious injuries occurred, but 13 people were treated for minor injuries, mostly as a result of flying glass. Non Precipitation Warnings 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. No damage was reported from this small, weak tornado and it was rated F0. A destructive and deadly tornado outbreak impacted the Red River Valley on April 10, 1979. The tornado was preceded by strong winds, and then followed at once by heavy rain and hail, which covered a 200-square mile area. To avoid getting trapped, it's been my policy to avoid blasted cities when ever possible. Nationwide, Current Conditions The tornado continued into Clay County, resulting in no deaths, but 40 additional injuries. ", "Storm spotter networks were alerted. At this time the tornado was just getting planted well to our southwest. Soon thereafter tornadoes were spotted near Crosby ton and Plainview and golfball size hail fell near Tulia, Afton, and Washburn (High Plains). Only 5 of the homes that were left actually incurred damage. 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. More. 16 of those 25 vehicle related deaths were from people leaving their homes to escape the. To commemorate this event, the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma has compiled a large amount of information including: tornado photos of the Wichita Falls, Vernon, Seymour, and Harrold, TX tornadoes; damage photos; images of radar and satellite data; other maps and diagrams of the event; and storm data for Oklahoma and western north Texas. A storm appeared on the horizon that had developed far to our south near Abilene. Such a total would mean that between 10% and 20% of the population of the city was displaced by the tornado. Horner was . April 17, 1977 - A "freak tornado" moved from east to west across a 2-mile path in the western sections of Wichita Falls. Approximately 30 houses in the addition were damage with some houses suffering extensive damage. 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). There were scattered remains of destroyed structures on either side of the road. One thousand and sixty-two apartment units and condominiums were demolished and 130 damaged. Rain was beginning to rotate totally around the funnel at this time and the tornado was producing an audible roar so loud it was hard to communicate. Three people were injured. Dissipation of the tornado occurred northwest of Waurika, Oklahoma, bringing the path length to 36 miles in Texas, and 11 miles in Oklahoma. much of the Trans-Pecos region. Maximum path length was about 3/4 mile and the width was 50 to 60 yards. Storm Data, Weather Safety Wildfire Safety This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1979, primarily in the United States. Two barns were also destroyed and scattered across a field. Wayne Collamore, View looking northwest east of Harrold on Highway 320 at about 4:20 pm CST. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings Cool Photos. 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. Crossing into Oklahoma, the tornado inflicted additional damage near Waurika before dissipating. It was on the ground for 11 miles. WICHITA FALLS, Tex., April 13 (UPI) Survivors of the tornado that devastated the southern part of this oil and agriculture center began burying their dead today while city officials tried. StormReady 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 . The tornado killed 42 Wichita Falls residents and caused over $200 million in damages, leaving 20 percent of the city's population homeless. . Tornado Pictures. Evan got up, the moonlight bouncing off his not so wicked blue eyes. 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. 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. Even though lesson #3 (above) is true in a violent tornado, the only complete guarantee of safety comes from an underground shelter, an above-ground shelter, or an extremely strongly-built building. 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. One mobile home was completely destroyed on Bobby Point Road, prompting an F1 rating. It was the costliest tornado in history until the F5 Moore-Oklahoma City tornado struck in 1999. . The storm spawned a second tornado that moved through the south and east sides of Wichita Falls at around 6:00 pm. those all. As seen in the photographs by Winston Wells (Tornado Track Figure; Location #10), the tornado became multi-vortex, displaying as many as five satellite vortices rotating around the center of circulation. About 1540 CST (3:40 PM), a tornado devastated the southeastern portion of Vernon, TX (11 fatalities). A number of people tried the flee from the tornado as it crossed the south side of the city by getting in cars and driving east on Southwest Parkway, north on US Highway 281 and east again on US Highway 287. 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. Upper Air Maps National Severe Storms Laboratory storm chasers photographed the tornado, which formed beneath the southwest flank of the severe thunderstorm. Read More. "The common notion, born in the aftermath of the 1979 Wichita Falls tornado, that being in a vehicle during a tornado warning is synonymous with injury and death can no longer be assumed or promoted. The following images and text have been provided by permission of the author are to be used for informational purposes only. 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. Then the supercell spawned one that killed three people in Lawton, Oklahoma. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at approaching tornado. The tornado moved to the north-northwest during its life before lifting 2 miles from Burkburnett. as derived from photogrammetric analysis. Several got extra protection by covering themselves with mattresses and pillows. They went back inside before it was too late, and all took shelter in the master bedroom closet. 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 tornado was about a half-mile wide when it struck Memorial Stadium, snapping light standards and causing heavy damage to the field house. Driving north on Texas 267 we witnessed the Thalia tornado. 3. Numerous other thunderstorms trekked across the area between Abilene, Wichita Falls, and Brownwood during the early evening, as the surface front, now occluded in the Panhandle, pushed relentlessly eastward. The sun had set, and the moon was now a crescent. Total property damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400,000,000 (in 1979 dollars). Texas was extremely unstable early in the evening (Figure 25). The Wichita Falls storm formed north of Abilene, TX. 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. Weather Radio, About Us The tornado then moved east-northeast into the Western hills neighborhood, south of Southwest Parkway. Explore. Local Climate Data 44 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed. Forty-two peoples were killed and over 1700 injured. ), 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 obituary. June 16, 1997 - A survey conducted by a National Weather Service meteorologist confirmed that an F1 tornado touched down briefly about 5 miles southeast of Burkburnett (or 1.5 miles north of the north end of Sheppard AFB). Severe Weather Safety Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. The Wichita Falls tornado alone killed 42 people and caused $400 million in damage ($1.93billion in today's dollars). Tornado Watch #67 was issued at 1:55 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST)2 calling for tornadoes, large hail, and damaging thunderstorm winds in portions of a 30,000-square-mile area in north central Texas and southwest Oklahoma. At about the time the tornado was developing at Harrold, 1.5 to 3 inch diameter hailstones were reported 7 miles west of Harrold. ), 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. Surface Maps Storm Pictures. At about the mid-point in the atmosphere (around 500 mb), significant cold air advection occurred, thus exacerbating unsettled conditions, already present (Figure 23). Usually hail is a problem in this position, but we encountered none on this storm. At the Iowa Park Fairgrounds, wind damage covered a 4-block area. In addition, the author hopes that the analyses will serve as a handy source of reference to those who seek to recall the past and those whose research work attempts to relate the weather to other aspects of human existence. In addition to the 42 fatalities directly caused by the tornado, three more people died of heart attacks and other illnesses during the stress of the tornado's passage. Living in Tornado Alley, I'm most familiar with tornados. 25 of those deaths were vehicle related. (Colonial Park, Hursh, Southmoor, Southwinds, and Southern Hills) A number of people tried to flee as the tornado moved along US 281 and 287 by driving east on Southwest Parkway. 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. 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. As the tornado crossed Kemp Boulevard in Wichita Falls, several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, were destroyed with several additional fatalities. We continued to drive east on a dirt road from Mabelle, Texas which is basically an intersection with a couple of old buildings. 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. The school building was totally destroyed by the tornado. Current Hazards Flood/Flash Flood Safety A large number of roofs were damaged at the air base, and buildings at the Wichita Valley Airport also suffered roof damage. The twister cut a swath through one-third of the city and killed. A mattress fell beside the vehicle and I looked out to see a woman standing in what appeared to be a junk yard. Sirens blew as the tornado bore down on Vernon. View looking west-northwest from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. 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). Tornado Understand a Tornado: A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm down to the ground. Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Waco, and of course Fort Worth come to mind, even Austin had one dancing around over the Capitol dome in 1922. Damage also occurred to machinery, homes, and outbuildings. The tornado was photographed from the south during this period by Pat Blacklock location #5). 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. Several brief touchdowns in Seymour resulted in scattered roof damage and one overturned truck. Tornado Warnings, Climate and Past Weather Continuing at F4 intensity, the now massive wedge tornado, which was at its maximum 1.5 miles (2.4km) wide, cut a 2.5-mile (4.0km) swath of destruction through the south side of town. Several buildings were torn apart and a cemetery was damaged. StormReady The other times were outbreaks on June 8, 1974 and May 3, 1999. Mr. Molet continued to take photographs until the wind blew him into his garage. About the time the tornado entered town, it changed appearance, becoming one large black cloud of condensation and debris. (Rated F3 by the NWS. Two reports can be found on this web site. During this time I navigated and Eddie drove. 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. This information is part of Stamboom Vermeij by Truus Vermeij on Genealogy Online. Several deaths in the Vernon tornado occurred because persons were caucht in autcmobiles that were tossed 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). July 21, 1961 - A small, weak tornado touched down briefly in the eastern part of Wichita Falls, about 3 miles from the airport. Stability indices indicated the air throughout central. Two Oklahoma University meteorology students (including Wayne Collamore) photographed the large tornado, which descended from a rotating wall cloud under the southwest flank of the severe thunderstorm. Tornado tore a large section of roof from an elementary school near. One F4 tornado impacted Vernon, Texas.The most notable tornado was another F4 tornado that destroyed most of the southern part of Wichita Falls, Texas, and is commonly referred to as "Terrible Tuesday" by many meteorologists. On April 3, 1964, a devastating F5 tornado hit the northern region of Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base. 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. Three thousand and ninety-five homes were destroyed and 600 were damaged. We were under an extensive rain free updraft area on the southeast side of the storm. The tornadoes caused 32 injuries, 29 deaths, and an estimated $20 million in personal and commercial insured losses. Instead of going through Vernon we dropped further south through Seymour, then north on Texas 267. 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. He later moved to Oklahoma City where he worked in TV weather before working for the federal government. The tornado originated from a weak thunderstorm with a radar top of only 16,000 feet. Past Weather Events 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. 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." We were rushed to get into position. Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 7:25 AM PST. A 368-foot radio antenna and 2 others antennas were blown down, and multiple power lines were downed. A small home was swept away in the affected area, and factories and warehouses were unroofed. Tornado Database Small buildings were damaged or destroyed, and roofs, signs, oil field derricks and tanks were damaged. We sat up to photograph to the east of the tornado and shot back west and north as it passed. Gene is a graduate of Oklahoma University who photographed storms when he lived in Norman, Oklahoma during the 1970s. It is estimated that 5,000 families, consisting of almost 20,000 people, were left homeless in Wichita Falls. Past Weather Events A second severe thunderstorm pounded the area just north of Brownwood with hail having a diameter of 3 to 3 1/2 inches. 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. Violent weather became more widespread as the afternoon progressed. For the first time in years we altered that route. Non Precipitation Warnings He shot these images one handed while driving down a dirt road. Norman, OKNational Weather Center120 David L. Boren Blvd. Thread starter Rob Satkus; Start date Apr 8, 2009; Forums. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. Property damage in the affected areas included 225 homes destroyed, with 50 homes suffering major damage, 200 homes incurring minor damage, and 16 other building receiving major damage. Winston Wells, Current Hazards The electrical power to local stations was down from the storm which prevented the gas pumps from operating and us from getting more gas. . ), April 20, 1951 - A small, brief tornado touched down near Wichita Falls and was accompanied by light hail. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Homes and businesses were torn apart in the McGehee area. By RAEGAN SCHARFETTER, ANNIE GIMBEL. Several strong to violent tornadoes touched down throughout the region that day. Elizabeth Lee Burk Newton 82 of Wichita Falls Tx. Very often, those features of Texas weather having the most import-such as the continuation or cessation of damaging drought, occurrences of flash-flooding rains, sharp changes in temperature, and incidences of tornadoes and hurricanes, cannot be discerned from the volumes of meteorological data that are published periodically. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Aloft, the strong wind maximum was over the Red River area, producing significant vertical wind shear. The lights of wichita shone bright now. 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. April 10, 1979 by James R Mcdonald _ Joseph E. Minor April 20, 1979 . That supercell was in progress just to our northeast, although there was no direct route to catch the fast moving storm. ", "To the people of the Red River Valley in Texas and Oklahoma, nothing about the weather appeared unusual during the early hours of April 10, 1979: it was business as usual. Most of the deaths were in Wichita Falls and Vernon, Texas . As the much drier air whipped eastward out of the southern High Plains just after noon, thunderstorms, some of which were very heavy, boiled up in parts of the eastern High Plains and quickly spilled over into the Low Rolling Plains. To the south of the warm front, moist, unstable air was streaming northward. FAQ As the first violent tornado on record to hit the Wichita Falls area, [18] it left seven dead and more than 100 injured. [7] It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Tornado caused $3,500,000 to the downtown business district in. The following images and text copyright Gene Moore unless otherwise indicated. These figures include 12 counties. There were a total 42 tornado fatalities in Wichita Falls, of which 25 were vehicle related. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at the approaching tornado. Total damage in the city was estimated at $400 million; five thousand families (or about 20,000 people) were left homeless. Satellite Imagery, Forecasts (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. (Rated F2 by the NWS.). 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