1970s. The video includes survivor accounts and safety information. Eight persons were killed outside, 4 were killed in homes or apartments, and 4 others died in public buildings. 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 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. The clouds in the flanking lines exploded up the back of the storm through the back-sheared anvil to the overshooting top. The publication was written and prepared by George W. Bomar of Weather Modification & Technology Section of the Texas Department of Water Resources. Historic tornado in Wichita KS McConnell AFB 1991. Tornado left suction vortex marks in open fields. Burgess, D. W., 1982. 1979 tornado outbreak leaves massive damage and 57 dead in Texoma. Two trailers were destroyed, and three homes were damaged. The third supercell was the one that formed the Seymour and Wichita Falls tornadoes as part of a three-member tornado family. Although high numbers of deaths have occurred in vehicles during tornadoes, the occurrences are rare. 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 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. No one was killed and only several major injuries occurred among the approximately one thousand shoppers who were in the mall. Extensive wind damage to about 100 homes and outbuildings occurred in Burkburnett where two 40-foot smoke stacks were also toppled. Brenda Lee Whitehead. Several deaths in the Vernon tornado occurred because persons were caucht in autcmobiles that were tossed The powerful vortex, although rated only F-2, had winds of over 200 MPH. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. A tool shed was blown away, trees uprooted, and utility poles damaged, and the Pontiac Company building was destroyed. These supercells caused the most damaging tornadoes of the outbreak. Large tornado destroyed several barns and scattered debris over a large area. We think this was the early stages of the Vernon tornado. During this time I navigated and Eddie drove. 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. Storm Data, Weather Safety By afternoon, the warm front had lifted to the vicinity of the Red River, and a new low pressure area had formed near Childress. Wichita Falls(/wtt/WITCH-i-tah) is a city in and the seat of governmentof Wichita County, Texas, United States. ), 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. The most active portion of the advancing dry line traversed this sector of the Low Rolling Plains at precisely the time of occurrence of the tornado outbreak (Figure 19). Local Storm Reports National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Flash Flood Warnings 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. Storm Events Database, tornadoes, 04-10-1979. The twister did level a number of telephone poles along Highway 283, before dissipating just east of 283 near Maybelle. According to the American National Red Cross, 7,759 families suffered losses in the storms (Table 1). The damage was quite hit and miss. The spring of 1979 was a very active tornado period for the plains states. Preprints, 12th Conference Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 441-443. It was spectacular to watch! Averages and Records 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. The April 10, 1979, tornado that hit Wichita Falls is the state's fifth-deadliest and one of the largest in U.S. history. It generally moved to the northeast, but turned to the right along the middle of its path, the period during which it produced its violent tornado. A detailed mapping of each house and public/commercial building in the city led to the construction of an F-scale map. No fatalities or injuries occurred. One more more brief tornadoes occurred within a larger area of straight-line wind damage in Lauderdale County. Damage to city property totaled $5 million while Sheppard AFB had $10 million in damages. About Our Office A few hours earlier that day, another tornado tore through Vernon, killing 10 residents and injuring more than 60 others. A Doppler radar view of the three supercells is available. The tornado originated from a weak thunderstorm with a radar top of only 16,000 feet. 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. Data modified as described in NOAA Tech Memo NWS SR-209 (Speheger, D., 2001: "Corrections to the Historic Tornado Database"). . (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Per the SPC Database, 25 tornadoes occurred mainly in TX and OK with one lone tornado in KS. Additional light rural damage occurred in the miles of Wichita County that the tornado covered. The following text comes from Chapter I of the NOAA Natural Disaster Report 80-1, "The Red River Valley Tornadoes of April 10, 1979. The Southwest National Bank Building was totally destroyed except for its concrete vault, a proxy for an above-ground shelter. Watch. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at approaching tornado. 1979-04-10 Wichita Falls. Three people were injured. The wide swath of damage can also be seen by viewing the NASA aerial photographs (aerial photos 1-10 on the damage photo tab) and the other aerial photographs (photos 7 & 8 on the damage photo tab). Two barns were also destroyed and scattered across a field. 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. There was strong upper level dynamics all coming together to produce strong tornado-producing supercells. StormReady Aviation Weather 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. We were under an extensive rain free updraft area on the southeast side of the storm. 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. Pinterest. Small buildings were damaged or destroyed, and roofs, signs, oil field derricks and tanks were damaged. 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. 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. There were at times five separate vortices visible within the tornado. 3.64K subscribers Kory King and SkyWarn 6 weather forecaster John Cameron talk about the national weather historical significance of the 1979 Terrible Tuesday tornado outbreak in Texoma. 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. Is it curse or coincidence? Click on the numbers on the map below or on each individual photo to see a larger image of that photo. A total of 2 homes were completely destroyed with 31 homes and 17 mobile homes being damaged. those all. Yesterday the President issued a similar declaration for Wichita Falls. The clouds would roll over like they were collapsing into a deep hold. The first in a series of tornadoes struck near Foard City shortly after 3 o'clock destroying several rural homes, barns, and farm equipment. The tornado killed 42 Wichita Falls residents and caused over $200 million in damages, leaving 20 percent of the city's population homeless. Graphical Forecasts April 10, 1979 by James R Mcdonald _ Joseph E. Minor April 20, 1979 . May 23, 1888 - A tornado moved northeastward and passed 6 miles west of Wichita Falls during the evening of May 23, 1888. Several homes were demolished, and a number of barns were partially destroyed. I had a good full frame shot of the suction spots rotating about the base of the funnel. As the tornado crossed Kemp Boulevard in Wichita Falls, several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, were destroyed with several additional fatalities. Tornado Understand a Tornado: A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm down to the ground. 45 people died in the Wichita Falls tornado. The night time tornadoes, although strong, were not as devastating as the ones that occurred in the Red River Valley during the afternoon. The Red River Valley Tornadoes of April 10, 1979. . 16 of those 25 vehicle related deaths were from people leaving their homes to escape the. A wind maximum gusting to 65 knots moved over Guadalupe Peak recording station in far southwest Texas; this triggered our departure. It looked killer from the beginning. The following text contains excerpts from the Texas Department of Water Resources publication "A Review of Texas' Weather in 1979: The Year of Devastating Tornadoes and Flash Floods" published in 1980. We couldn't make it into Wichita Falls because we almost ran out of gas. - May 31st, 2010 . At the Iowa Park Fairgrounds, wind damage covered a 4-block area. Three houses were destroyed and several others were damaged. Property damages to both civilian properties and Sheppard were set at over $15 million. February 18, 2023 (64 years old) View obituary. Total property damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400,000,000 (in 1979 dollars). Tornado warning and preparedness systems are worth the time and effort it takes to maintain them. I survived an enormous North Texas twister on April 10, 1979 that took 52 lives when three vortexes merged into one. Such a total would mean that between 10% and 20% of the population of the city was displaced by the tornado. The Ohio National Guard was dispatched to the scene within nine hours to help with rescue work, caring for . Gene is a graduate of Oklahoma University who photographed storms when he lived in Norman, Oklahoma during the 1970s. The tornado moved to the north-northwest during its life before lifting 2 miles from Burkburnett. This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1979, primarily in the United States. It seems that almost every major Texas city has had to deal with a tornado at least once. 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. In Wichita Falls, an emergency hotline to key local officials, TV, and radio stations assured rapid and complete local dissemination. Flood Warnings In the Wichita Falls area, damage occurred to ~75 homes, 15 trailer homes, high school, and numerous outbuildings. (1 death) April 10 - Texas, Oklahoma (11 deaths) April 10 - Texas, . We continued south passing a damage path across the highway from the Harrold tornado. July 21, 1961 - A small, weak tornado touched down briefly in the eastern part of Wichita Falls, about 3 miles from the airport. Several got extra protection by covering themselves with mattresses and pillows. April 10, 2001 - This tornado developed on the south side of Wichita Falls at 11:46 pmCST, a short distance from Lake Wichita. Winter Weather Most of the destroyed homes had some of these interior walls still standing after the tornado. On the first street of houses to the northeast of Lange's apartment complex, Robert Molet also photographed the approaching tornado (location #3). 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