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). Each lasted for an hour or more and left a continuous track of ground damage 35 miles or longer. Damage also occurred to machinery, homes, and outbuildings. Questions? ", "The thunderstorm system that produced the Vernon tornado crossed the Red River and left a 50-mile-long skipping track of tornado damage through Oklahoma. 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). April 10, 1979: The worst single tornado in Texas' history hit Wichita Falls. The clouds would roll over like they were collapsing into a deep hold. The powerful vortex, although rated only F-2, had winds of over 200 MPH. About the Artist: Frank Gohlke is a leading figure in American landscape photography. ", "The three main storms in the Red River Valley outbreak were giant tornadoes. The northern supercell, the Vernon-Lawton storm, produced its first tornado at 1505 CST (3:05 PM) south of Crowell, TX. Wayne Collamore, View looking west about 3-4 miles east of Harrold on Highway 320 at about 4:15 pm CST. Further statistics reveal that 25 of the deaths were auto-related. The first tornado formed near Seymour at around 4:53 pm. Forecast Discussion, Warnings and Other Products Storm Spotter Training ", "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. Graphical Forecasts The Wichita Falls area has been visited by tornadoes many times over the course of its history. Local Climate Data The tornado was eventually rated F5 and was the first violent tornado on record to strike the Wichita Falls area. A killer tornado, which spread death and destruction through Wilbarger County and the city of Vernon during the mid afternoon on Tuesday, April 10, 1979, is pictured here as it formed near the Five-In-One Community. Members of the Wichita Falls Repeater Club Weather Spotters manned their pre-planned command post on the NWS Office (WSO) and deployed radio-equipped members to vantage points that assured good observation coverage southwest of the city. The following images and text have been provided by permission of the author are to be used for informational purposes only. That supercell was in progress just to our northeast, although there was no direct route to catch the fast moving storm. 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). Non Precipitation Warnings FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 0 10 19 . Ingredients for a devastating severe weather event were beginning to come together on the morning of April 10. The thunderstorm that fostered that tornado also produced hail up to 3 inches in diameter west of Harrold. One more more brief tornadoes occurred within a larger area of straight-line wind damage in Lauderdale County. There is no doubt that hundreds of lives were saved by the news media and siren warnings. Surface Maps 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. 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. 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 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. It damaged several homes and businesses before going into Wichita Falls where it . Weather Radio, About Us (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Of the 7 people killed, six occurred in 5 different homes, and one man was killed when his truck was thrown from a road. No one was killed and only several major injuries occurred among the approximately one thousand shoppers who were in the mall. Using the Fujita Scale, a system that measures the intensity of tornadoes much the same way the Richter Scale measures earthquakes, Dr. McDonald rated the Wichita Falls tornado as a high F4 . 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. While only on the ground for 35 minutes, the 800-foot-wide twister killed seven people, injured 111, and destroyed 225 homes. Past Weather Events The Wichita Falls storm produced its first tornado at 1653 CST (4:53 PM) near Seymour, TX. The collingsworth family is a southern gospel /inspirational group started by phil and kim collingsworth and features their family as the group. The Southwest National Bank Building was totally destroyed except for its concrete vault, a proxy for an above-ground shelter. The formation of the tornado and its movement toward the stadium and junior high were captured by Wolfgang Lange from the front of his apartment complex which was located across the street from the junior high (location #2). Averages and Records On the evening of April 10th 1979 an F4 tornado touched down outside Wichita Falls TX and carved a 47 mile long path of destruction that would become the costliest Tornado in United States History. Tornado Pictures. Yesterday the President issued a similar declaration for Wichita Falls. 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. Twenty-five of the deaths were. Published In . A few intense thunderstorms erupted at about the same time in the northwestern portion of North Central Texas; small hail and high winds raked Gainesville and Decatur during the noon hour. On Saturday, June 28, 1924, a deadly F4 tornado struck the Lake Erie shoreline communities of Sandusky and Lorain, Ohio. ), 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. We couldn't make it into Wichita Falls because we almost ran out of gas. 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. 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. (1 death) April 10 - Texas, Oklahoma (11 deaths) April 10 - Texas, . We were worried that the rain would get worse before we set up the cameras which was not desirable considering we were on a dirt road. It was roaring down the hill fairly fast and my chase partner was concerned that we couldn't get out of the path. Miss Mahon's parents and five brothers and sisters wept as the Rev. Other homes in the area were damaged. It seems that almost every major Texas city has had to deal with a tornado at least once. Summer Weather Safety 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. Tours. Widespread downburst winds and hail brought damages of $200,000 to the town of Iowa Park alone. Watch. [7] It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Childress lay in the path of the advancing low pressure center, as surface pressure fell drastically and winds backed during the afternoon before the much drier continental air enveloped the region in the evening (Figure 17). More. Northeast of Wichita Falls, the tornado entered Clay County and changed its appearance. Pinterest. Severe weather warnings had been in effect for Wichita County and Wichita Falls for almost an hour. I had a good full frame shot of the suction spots rotating about the base of the funnel. 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. T. T. Fujita, noted tornado researcher from the University of Chicago, said, 'The damage path was one of the widest I have ever seen, and its intensity was almost equal to that of the giant storm that leveled Xenia, Ohio, in the 1974 tornado outbreak. He shot these images one handed while driving down a dirt road. Historic tornado in Wichita KS McConnell AFB 1991. 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. On April 10, 1979, a huge F4 tornado touched down just outside of Wichita Falls. Radar warnings and alerts from the Weather Bureau office were credited with saving many lives. Apr 20, 2012 - The April 10, 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls. 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. Aug 23, 2005 163 3 0 58 Norman Ok www.chasestories.com. Overall, the outbreak killed 58 people and injured 1,927 others. Then, a second vicious tornado formed near Thalia and moved into Lockett, where a driver of an auto was killed when her vehicle was thrown 200 yards off the highway. 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. The Wichita Falls tornado formed in Archer County and moved northeast and damaged a few rural homes and high voltage towers at F1-F2 intensity. Wichita Falls(/wtt/WITCH-i-tah) is a city in and the seat of governmentof Wichita County, Texas, United States. The tornadoes pictured here were part of the Red River Valley Outbreak, the biggest event of that year. Tornado Understand a Tornado: A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm down to the ground. Submit a Spot Forecast All NOAA. Air Quality April 26, 1962 - This tornado initially touched down at 10:45 pmCST on the Sheppard Access Road near Sheppard AFB, damaging several cars, and destroying a a 100 x 30 foot metal building at a motor company. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Additional light rural damage occurred in the miles of Wichita County that the tornado covered. At about the time the tornado was developing at Harrold, 1.5 to 3 inch diameter hailstones were reported 7 miles west of Harrold. by Glasstire May 2, 2017. Tornado left suction vortex marks in open fields. Submit a Spot Forecast Radio and TV stations aired the Tornado Watch so that most people were alerted to the threat and ready for warning messages and sirens that were to come later. During this time I was trying to shoot pictures through the window. 6. The destruction in Wichita Falls resulted in 42 dead, 1,740 injured, over 3,000 homes destroyed and damage of approximately $400 million. As the tornado neared the road it began to shrink in size and slowed a little, aiding our hasty retreat. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Undoubtedly, this earlier warning and the afternoon Vernon tornado had primed the Wichita Falls populace to the threat of additional tornado activity. Stones as large as two inches were reported further to our northeast. The police chief and county sheriff conferred and dispatched patrol cars to the southwest edge of town to watch for the approaching storm. much of the Trans-Pecos region. 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. Wichita Falls, Texas, on April 10, 1979. At the Iowa Park Fairgrounds, wind damage covered a 4-block area. In addition to the tornado, severe thunderstorm winds moved through the Wichita Falls area, downing trees, limbs, and power poles. Wind gusts to 100 mph were observed at the observation site. Rivers and Lakes NUMBER FIVE - THE WICHITA FALLS TORNADO - APRIL 10, 1979 One of the most infamous of Texas Tornadoes, this huge F4 first. [8] The tornado cut a path 8 miles (13km) through the city, with significant devastation. Winter Weather Safety, Special Programs Usually hail is a problem in this position, but we encountered none on this storm. Eddie complained, but kept fighting the wheel. 1979-04-10 Wichita Falls. 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. Golfball-size hail fell prior to and immediately after the tornado passed along a track that took it into Oklahoma (where it dissipated near Waurika). Every year in the United States the threat of a catastrophe looms whenever tornadoes approach large gatherings of people. 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