Three houses were destroyed and several others were damaged. The Wichita Falls tornado alone killed 42 people and caused $400 million in damage ($1.93billion in today's dollars). To the north of Southwest Parkway, the tornado destroyed many houses in the Western Hills Addition. July 21, 1961 - A small, weak tornado touched down briefly in the eastern part of Wichita Falls, about 3 miles from the airport. Scary stuff. Burgess, D. W., 1982. There we hoped the dryline and warm front would intersect with a strong jet stream. As the tornado crossed Kemp Boulevard in Wichita Falls, several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, were destroyed with several additional fatalities. Ashley found that 69.2% of all tornado fatalities from 1985 to 2005 occurred in either mobile or permanent homes, illustrating the enhanced vulnerability of these particular housing structures. By noon, all doubt was gone. A total of 2 homes were completely destroyed with 31 homes and 17 mobile homes being damaged. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Those sources of meteorological data used in this report consist of: official rainfall, snowfall, temperature, wind, sunshine, and moisture data as provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the publications, "Climatological Data: Texas," "Local Climatological Data" (for selected cities), "Storm Data, and "Daily Weather Maps;" weather teletype reports (circuits "A" and "C") from the National Weather Service surface and upper-air observing network; surface and upper-air facsimile charts provided by the National Meteorological Center of NOAA; newspaper accounts; and photographic data obtained by the author. During this time I navigated and Eddie drove. Sixteen of these 25 were people who entered their cars trying to evade the tornado. Wayne Collamore, View looking west just east of Harrold on Highway 320 at about 4:15 pm CST. This huge F4 first touched down about 3 miles northeast of Holliday. No one was killed and only several major injuries occurred among the approximately one thousand shoppers who were in the mall. have just been raked by debris from rear flank downdraft surge wrapping around the tornado - tornado now in a sunlit position relative to us - getting really spectacular! Rivers and Lakes Apr 8, 2009 #1 NWS OUN has put up a nice page for the 30th anniversary of this monster: . The tornadoes pictured here were part of the Red River Valley Outbreak, the biggest event of that year. Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 7:25 AM PST. Near the center of the tornado and about a half mile south of the mall, a church was demolished with one person killed inside the building. Non Precipitation Warnings CoCoRaHS It was roaring down the hill fairly fast and my chase partner was concerned that we couldn't get out of the path. WICHITA FALLS, Texas (TNN) - April 10th, 1979, a day forever ingrained in the minds of those who lived through it. Deaths An Estimated 42 people died Tornado caused $3,500,000 to the downtown business district in. Historic tornado in Wichita KS McConnell AFB 1991. Questions? Lawton was as ready as a community could be for the tornado. One piece of farm equipment was destroyed and damage occurred to fences and trees. It then moved into Clay County and changed its appearance to display a multiple-vortex structure. Multiple vortices are seen in this photo. The tornado then weakened slightly, but remained at F3 intensity, destroying the Sun Valley housing area, the Sunnyside Heights Mobile Home Park, and several large commercial businesses, including the Levi Strauss Plant, before exiting the east side of town. Storm Spotter Training Radar warnings and alerts from the Weather Bureau office were credited with saving many lives. The tornadoes destroyed the press box and lights at Memorial Stadium, which lead to the Pioneer Bowl being. 38 On April 10, 1979, a series of deadly tornadoes broke out near the Texas-Oklahoma border. The tornado first touched down at 2:35 pm CST north of the intersection of Farm Road 369 and Seymour Highway. Casualty data were supplied by the Texas and Oklahoma NWS offices. All but one of the 12 large glass windows in the tower were blown out, and control tower personnel had only abandoned their tower posts 4 minutes before. NWS More than 40 died, and about 1,700 were injured. Tornadoes are capable of completely destroying well-made structures, uprooting trees, and hurling objects through the air like deadly missiles. Pat Blacklock, View looking north from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. (Rated F2 by the NWS. 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. To the south of the warm front, moist, unstable air was streaming northward. Storm Data, Weather Safety One person was injured. Three thousand and 95 homes were destroyed while roofs of many other buildings were sheared away. Over 100 commercial businesses, some of them large manufacturing concerns, were destroyed. 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. (Rated F3 by the NWS. Those who were caught in automobiles and trucks made up a high percentage of the fatalities. 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. View obituary. The tornado was at the top of the hill less than a mile away. 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. Also, the second story of the press box at the high school football stadium was blown off and scattered across the playing field. More. The police chief and county sheriff conferred and dispatched patrol cars to the southwest edge of town to watch for the approaching storm. Click on the numbers on the map below or on each individual photo to see a larger image of that photo. The giant tornado was a massive black column extending from the low striated base of the inky clouds to the ground. Six barns and two homes were destroyed. Meanwhile, strong gusty winds associated with the eastward progression of an intensifying upper atmospheric storm out of New Mexico made travel hazardous in. 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. When it was all over, an 8 mile swath of the city over a mile wide was . Further eastward, most houses in the Faith Village Addition were destroyed, and Ben Milam Elementary School was severely damaged (location #6). The large Wichita Falls F4 tornado moving through town. The tornado originated from a weak thunderstorm with a radar top of only 16,000 feet. 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. Sirens blew as the tornado bore down on Vernon. The tornado blew many of those vehicles off those roadways, inflicting numerous fatalities. Flash Flood Warnings April 2, 1958 - A funnel was first spotted 8 miles southwest of Wichita Falls before touching down at 5:40 pmCST near the intersection 4th Street and Lamar Street near the Wichita River. Averages and Records as derived from photogrammetric analysis. Mr. Molet continued to take photographs until the wind blew him into his garage. April 26, 1991, saw one of the biggest, if not the biggest, tornadoes in Wichita history. Norman, OKNational Weather Center120 David L. Boren Blvd. Fortunately, the tornado moved through rural areas and did not affect any housing at this stage. -11 Wilbarger County, TX. Tours. Perennially the State perseveres through frequent bombardments of hail, high winds, and flash floods, often with the accompaniment of tornadoes-as well as the threat of being struck on its coastal flank by a hurricane or intense tropical cyclone. As the storm bore down, those who sought the safest refuge in their immediate surroundings generally fared well. Winter Weather Safety, Special Programs The southern supercell, the Wichita Falls storm, produced its first tornado at 1653 CST (4:53 PM) near Seymour, TX. Wichita Falls Tornado 1979. The tornado was coming down, but getting photography was difficult. Numbers for 1979 were similar to that of 1980. We were under an extensive rain free updraft area on the southeast side of the storm. 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). Tornado F-scale ratings prior to 1950, as well as most tornado data are referenced from Significant Tornadoes, 1680-1991 by T. P. Grazulis. Hail the size of golf balls preceded the touchdown and continued for approximately 15 minutes. Sixteen of the 25 got in vehicles to evade the tornado, and 11 of the 16 homes which were left did not incur damage by the tornado. 10. As bad as the tornado was, it could have been worse. Alberty, R. A., D. W. Burgess and T. T. Fujita, 1980: Severe weather events of 10 April 1979. I often read in more general reference books as well as a handful of weather books that a tornado at Wichita Falls, TX, on April 2, 1958 had a wind gust recorded at 280 mph. To avoid getting trapped, it's been my policy to avoid blasted cities when ever possible. (Rated F2 by the NWS.). Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at the approaching tornado. . The killer tornadoes that ravaged parts of three Texas communities near the Red River late in the afternoon stemmed from a wave of very intense thunderstorms that developed shortly after noon when a dry line advanced rapidly eastward out of the High Plains ahead of an approaching Pacific cold front. 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