Flood Warnings This most damaging tornado in Texas history was not finished, however. 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. So they adopt the religion of Christianity. All who have looked at and studied the event agree that the death toll would have been much larger had there not been not been such systems in place and functioning on April 10. (Rated F1 by the NWS. 1. A wind maximum gusting to 65 knots moved over Guadalupe Peak recording station in far southwest Texas; this triggered our departure. Hazardous Weather Outlook Prior to its touchdown, a funnel was first observed about 10 miles to the west-southwest. All Nature. The heaviest damage in the apartments occurred in the second story of two-story buildings. 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. It was spectacular to watch! 2 All times in Central Standard Time. April 17, 1977 - A "freak tornado" moved from east to west across a 2-mile path in the western sections of Wichita Falls. Continuing east-northeast, the tornado severely damaged commercial building along Southwest Parkway, including total destruction of the Southwest National Bank Building except for its vault (location #4). Stability indices indicated the air throughout central. Cool Pictures. 8. Pat Blacklock, View looking northwest from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. The brick building at the water works plant was heavily damaged, and a woman suffered a broken back when her home was destroyed 3 miles south of Burkburnett. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at approaching tornado. Known as the Red River Valley tornado outbreak or "Terrible Tuesday," 30 tornadoes ran rampant. We give still life with tornado and numerous ebook collections from fictions to scientific research in any way. For example, the police chief called the city manager out of a meeting with county commissioners. Seventeen hundred injuries were reported in Wichita Falls. One F4 tornado impacted Vernon, Texas. These are 40 before/after pairings, as he shot dramatically injured locations . Please try another search. 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. The storm intercept teams noted that the tornado developed from a rotating wall cloud in the Seymour area. Over 100 commercial businesses, some of them large manufacturing concerns, were destroyed. The number of reported injuries approached 1,800 although hundreds of additional minor injuries were never recorded. The tornado exited Texas about 4 miles east of Byers, uprooting over 200 trees along the Red River. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at the time of tornado touchdown. Storm Data, Weather Safety By mid-afternoon the surface low had migrated northeastward toward the northern Low Rolling Plains, where steep pressure falls of up to 8mb or more in three hours were observed (Figure 16 insert). Please Contact Us. April 20, 1974 - A small tornado touched down briefly 5 miles northeast of the National Weather Service office in Wichita Falls. 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). Sirens blew as the tornado bore down on Vernon. I'm surprised he got the tornado in the frame. In addition to the tornado which developed near Wichita Falls, sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph from the southeast with gusts near 60 mph developed across western north Texas during the mid-evening of the 10th and persisted through much of the night. 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). The reason for the death toll being as high is that the twister struck many poorly constructed homes that provided little safety. Three thousand and ninety-five homes were destroyed and 600 were damaged. Non Precipitation Warnings Over 3,000 homes were destroyed and another 1,000 were damaged, and over 1,000 apartment units/ condominiums were destroyed and another 130 damaged. Two barns were also destroyed and scattered across a field. No one was killed and only several major injuries occurred among the approximately one thousand shoppers who were in the mall. In particular, note the sharp decline in reflectivity near the genesis time and during the life of the Wichita Falls tornado with maximum values less than 45 dBZ for a brief period. 45 people died in the Wichita Falls tornado. ", "The three main storms in the Red River Valley outbreak were giant tornadoes. 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). April 10, 1979: The worst single tornado in Texas' history hit Wichita Falls. At Sheppard Air Force Base, winds up to 70 mph tore countless limbs from trees and knocked out windows on some base housing units. (1 death) April 10 - Texas, Oklahoma (11 deaths) April 10 - Texas, . Note that the 50 dBZ core was no longer evident. (Rated F2 by the NWS.). 1 A tornado struck Waco and McLennan County on May 11, 1953, inflicting 114 deaths, 597 injuries, and damages of $4i.2 million. At the end of the outbreak, 54 people lost their lives in Texas, three were killed in Oklahoma and one was killed in Indiana. Three isolated supercells, forming in mid afternoon, moved northeastward as a trio and were responsible for the worst part of the outbreak. Wichita Falls Tornado. The publication was written and prepared by George W. Bomar of Weather Modification & Technology Section of the Texas Department of Water Resources. Averages and Records Several trailers were destroyed. (Rated F5 by the NWS.). 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 to keep sightseers and looters away. Horner was . For. Graphical Forecasts The funnel was quite close at this time and large black crows were caught up in the outer circulation. As the tornado neared the road it began to shrink in size and slowed a little, aiding our hasty retreat. It began at 4:57 p.m. about a mile-and-a-half south of Clearwater. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Flood/Flash Flood Safety 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. A tool shed was blown away, trees uprooted, and utility poles damaged, and the Pontiac Company building was destroyed. Lawton was as ready as a community could be for the tornado. The deadliest tornadoes to strike in Texas in 26 years ravaged parts of four communities near the Red River on April 10, taking 53 lives, injuring 1808, and causing damage worth $427 million1. By the end of the day we had seen four tornadoes, Thalia, Vernon (although not well), Lake Kemp, and Seymour. Multiple locations were found. The first in a series of tornadoes struck near Foard City shortly after 3 o'clock destroying several rural homes, barns, and farm equipment. This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 02:48. We continued to drive east on a dirt road from Mabelle, Texas which is basically an intersection with a couple of old buildings. ", "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. (Rated F2 by the NWS.). This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1979, primarily in the United States. Fortunately, on April 10, 1979, McNiel Junior High was almost totally unoccupied when the tornado struck and a worse catastrophe was avoided. Storm Spotter Training 15:55 F2. The tornado then swept through the Southmoor area, destroying homes and a shopping center. The tornado was coming down, but getting photography was difficult. Each parallelogram on the map below represents the approximate aerial coverage shown in each photo. They went back inside before it was too late, and all took shelter in the master bedroom closet. Final totals across three states were 181 killed and 970 injured. As bad as the tornado was, it could have been worse. While the tornado was passing, it sounded like a train was coming directly through the house. At about the mid-point in the atmosphere (around 500 mb), significant cold air advection occurred, thus exacerbating unsettled conditions, already present (Figure 23). 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