wichita falls tornado 1979 deaths

44 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed. 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. We continued to drive east on a dirt road from Mabelle, Texas which is basically an intersection with a couple of old buildings. Some of these people attempted to run to their cars from the mall. No fatalities or serious injuries occurred, but 13 people were treated for minor injuries, mostly as a result of flying glass. Also, the second story of the press box at the high school football stadium was blown off and scattered across the playing field. The tornadoes caused 32 injuries, 29 deaths, and an estimated $20 million in personal and commercial insured losses. The twister did level a number of telephone poles along Highway 283, before dissipating just east of 283 near Maybelle. A powerful tornado tore through the Wichita, Kansas, area Friday night, leveling dozens of structures in the city of Andover, according to officials. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured by the tornado. In addition, the damage paths of all three were wider than normal. (This tornado was documented and rated F2 by Tom Grazulis in his book, Significant Tornadoes. At about the time the tornado was developing at Harrold, 1.5 to 3 inch diameter hailstones were reported 7 miles west of Harrold. 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. Some of these people had stopped their cars under an overpass on the highway, seeking shelter from the storm. The tornadoes destroyed the press box and lights at Memorial Stadium, which lead to the Pioneer Bowl being. Although his house was completely destroyed, Mr. Molet escaped with only minor injuries as his pickup truck was blown over him, protecting him from the worst winds and debris. This tornado was part of an outbreak of tornadoes that occurred on May 25-26, 1955 across the southern Great Plains, and included the deadly F5 tornadoes at Blackwell, OK and Udall, KS. A very intense spring storm shifted out of the Rocky Mountains on April 10, generating lines of severe thunderstorms that swept across the northern portion of the State. The 1979 tornado cut a wide path of destruction through Wichita Falls homes and apartments. The Wichita Falls area has been visited by tornadoes many times over the course of its history. One mobile home was completely destroyed on Bobby Point Road, prompting an F1 rating. One piece of farm equipment was destroyed and damage occurred to fences and trees. About $15 million of damage occurred as the tornado destroyed homes immediately south of TX State Highway 79, from Wichita Falls into the Dean and Petrolia areas. Alberty, R. A., D. W. Burgess and T. T. Fujita, 1980: Severe weather events of 10 April 1979. Ben Milam Elementary School was heavily damaged, as the cafeteria-auditorium was completely destroyed and exterior class rooms were pummeled by flying debris. The second supercell spawned one that moved 74 miles (119km). The lights of wichita shone bright now. 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 President decided last night to send Mr. Watson to express his personal concern about the disaster, in which at least 58 persons were killed in four communities along the TexasOklahoma border 44 in Wichita Falls, 11 in nearby Vernon and Harrold, Tex., and three others in Lawton, Okla., 60 miles north of here. Half of the injuries sustained by Vernon residents were deemed critical by city officials. Two barns were also destroyed and scattered across a field. It seems that almost every major Texas city has had to deal with a tornado at least once. 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. Tornado Pictures. There were scattered remains of destroyed structures on either side of the road. Winston Wells, Current Hazards Approximately 30 houses in the addition were damage with some houses suffering extensive damage. We continued south passing a damage path across the highway from the Harrold tornado. 2. As it moved north of Southwest Parkway, the tornado destroyed many homes in both the Western Hills Addition and the Faith Village Addition and severely damaged Ben Milam Elementary School. 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. Hail to 1.75 inches was also reported south of the city. We think this was the early stages of the Vernon tornado. 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. April 3, 1964 - A violent tornado struck the northwest section of Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base, killing 7 persons and injuring 111 other people. Within 30 minutes the tornado, with a track that varied between 1/2 and 1 1/2 miles wide and 8 miles long, had sped across the southern portion of Wichita Falls. 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. A destructive and deadly tornado outbreak impacted the Red River Valley on April 10, 1979. 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. The damage was quite hit and miss. Winter Weather Warnings Further statistics reveal that 25 of the deaths were auto-related. From the blizzards that traditionally pound the Panhandle each winter to the enduring heat that scorches vast sections of Texas later in the summer, Texas in the meteorological sense truly is the "Land of Contrast." Numerous other disruptive weather events, including torrential, flash-flooding rains, scattered but frequent incidents of hail, and a widespread dust and sand storm, highlighted April, an unusually wet but seasonably mild month for most Texans. Flood Warnings The tornado has widened and intensified at this stage. 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. Although roughly 4,000 homes were struck by the tornado, there were only five fatalities of people inside homes along the path of the tornado. Please select one of the following: Table 1 -- Casualty and Property Losses -, GOES Visible Satellite Images (1530Z 4/10/1979 - 0014Z 4/11/1979), GOES Infrared Satellite Images (0000Z - 0600Z 4/11/1979). 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 following table includes data and summaries from the tornadoes that occurred in the area since the late 1800's. There is no doubt that hundreds of lives were saved by the news media and siren warnings. Tuesday, April 10, 1979 seemed like a perfect spring day - right up until a tornado appeared seemingly out of nowhere, cutting a path through Wilbarger County and Vernon that left 11 dead, dozens injured and millions of dollars of property destroyed. The width of the F1 damage was generally as wide as one mile, and the extent of the F0 damage was even wider, but so widespread that it was not mapped. National Weather Service The twister, which had a wide funnel, shrouded the community in darkness as it swept eastward south of Vernon and along the east side of the city, resulting in millions of dollars in damage and 11 directly killed by the tornado (10 in Vernon and 1 in Lockett, TX). On the first street of houses to the northeast of Lange's apartment complex, Robert Molet also photographed the approaching tornado (location #3). July 21, 1961 - A small, weak tornado touched down briefly in the eastern part of Wichita Falls, about 3 miles from the airport. While photographing this shot I began to feel vibration in the camera. 1964, and another in 1979. Around 3:05 in the afternoon, the first tornado formed near Crowell, Texas. As we drove south on the H.E. 25 of those deaths were vehicle related. Inevitably each year some sector of Texas suffers from the effects of a tornado strike, a blinding snowstorm, a violent hail-bearing thunderstorm, or a raging sand- or dust storm. Select western north Texas tornado statistics by decade, county or city from the menus or maps below. Winston Wells, View looking southwest at the approaching tornado northeast of Wichita Falls, Texas. During the morning, closely monitored air mass movements, temperatures, dew points, and winds had all been shifting towards critical values indicative of severe thunderstorms and potential tornadoes. The heaviest damage in the apartments occurred in the second story of two-story buildings. Daily Weather History The school building was totally destroyed by the tornado. Watch. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. As seen in the photographs by Winston Wells (location #10), the tornado became multi-vortex, displaying as many as five satellite vortices rotating around the center of circulation. Nationwide, Current Conditions Thus, he stood in his backyard driveway and photographed the destruction of the apartment complex and the beginning of destruction in his neighborhood. Please Contact Us. Upper Air Maps ", 1 The Storm Prediction Center is now located in Norman, Oklahoma 8. (Rated F2 by the NWS. Wildfire Safety As the tornado crossed Kemp Boulevard in Wichita Falls, several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, were destroyed with several additional fatalities. Is it curse or coincidence? Tornado Understand a Tornado: A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm down to the ground. ", "The three main storms in the Red River Valley outbreak were giant tornadoes. US Dept of Commerce ", "About the time the Vernon tornado was moving across the Red River into Oklahoma, 20 miles to the south another funnel cloud was dropping out of the thunderstorm clouds approaching Harrold, Texas. Caused $190,000 in damage. I survived an enormous North Texas twister on April 10, 1979 that took 52 lives when three vortexes merged into one. By RAEGAN SCHARFETTER, ANNIE GIMBEL. At about the mid-point in the atmosphere (around 500 mb), significant cold air advection occurred, thus exacerbating unsettled conditions, already present (Figure 23). In New York, Ernest W. Brinkman, vice president of the Underwriters Adjusting Company, said that most of the families affected by the tornadoes were getting substantial advance payments from insurance companies for emergency shelter and repairs. Aloft, the strong wind maximum was over the Red River area, producing significant vertical wind shear. May 23, 1888 - A tornado moved northeastward and passed 6 miles west of Wichita Falls during the evening of May 23, 1888. Several deaths in the Vernon tornado occurred because persons were caucht in autcmobiles that were tossed The North Texas town of Wichita Falls has seen three major tornadoesin 1958, 1964, and another in 1979. The majority of the fatalities were in vehicles, and a number of those victims left homes that were undamaged by the tornado only to be caught in its deadly path as they tried to flee. A trailer and three barns were destroyed. 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. Dissipation of the tornado occurred northwest of Waurika, Oklahoma, bringing the path length to 36 miles in Texas, and 11 miles in Oklahoma. Winter Weather Safety, Special Programs Local Climate Data While the families and friends of the victims mourned, National Guard troops manned barricades outside devastated neighborhoods and stopped people who tried to enter the area, turning back any without essential business. Our path across the Red River was always through Lawton; then we usually took a short cut on OK 36 and OK 5 through open wheat country to Fredrick and Vernon. The Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak, one of the most significant outbreaks on record for this region, occurred on April 10, 1979. By this time teams from NSSL and the University of Oklahoma had arrived. About 1540 CST (3:40 PM), a tornado devastated the southeastern portion of Vernon, TX (11 fatalities). Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 7:25 AM PST. much of the Trans-Pecos region. The tornado originated from a weak thunderstorm with a radar top of only 16,000 feet. This route took us in front of the advancing vortex and provided a pretty exciting ride. 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. The Wichita Falls storm produced its first tornado at 1653 CST (4:53 PM) near Seymour, TX. It was a large, but distant funnel that may have been the beginning of the horrific tornado that moved through that city. (Rated F1 by the NWS. Preprints, 12th Conference Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 441-443. Precipitation was to our west through southwest and wrapped around the tornado. ), 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. Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 7:25 AM PST and commercial insured losses Significant tornadoes NSSL the... 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