wichita falls tornado 1979 deathswichita falls tornado 1979 deaths

Graphical Forecasts (Rated F2 by the NWS. There were a total 42 tornado fatalities in Wichita Falls, of which 25 were vehicle related. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Over 100 commercial businesses, some of them large manufacturing concerns, were destroyed. Overall, the outbreak produced nearly 30 tornadoes and a large number of damaging wind and severe hail reports. Eleven of the 16 people left homes that were not even damaged. Several buildings were torn apart and a cemetery was damaged. Continuing east-northeastward, the violent tornado destroyed a large portion of a residential neighborhood before heavily damaging a commercial building along Southwest Parkway. Upper Air Maps Minor damage occurred to some fences and the area. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Historical weather events. 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. April 10th, 1979 started out like any other day in Texoma. Only three times in my chase career have I seen vertical storm tower velocities this strong. In slightly more than 10 minutes, the tornado passed across the southern tip of the city leaving 11 dead, more than 60 injured, and several hundred homes destroyed or damaged. Pat Blacklock, View looking north-northwest from south shore of Lake Wichita at the tornado approaching Wichita Falls, Texas. No fatalities or injuries occurred. The tornado moved eastward, was a visible as a column of dust that extended from the ground to the base of its parent thunderstorm, and was probably a landspout tornado. About the Artist: Frank Gohlke is a leading figure in American landscape photography. 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. 1 A tornado struck Waco and McLennan County on May 11, 1953, inflicting 114 deaths, 597 injuries, and damages of $4i.2 million. Such a total would mean that between 10% and 20% of the population of the city was displaced by the tornado. February 18, 2023 (64 years old) View obituary. The effects of passage of both the warm front from the Gulf and later the dry line from the west were pronounced at points like Abilene, where rapidly falling surface pressures, a soaring temperature, and a sudden plunge in dew point (signaling the arrival of the dry line) identified well the events that combined to cause devastation farther to the north a few hours later (Figure 18). The tornado moved across Highway 287 and caused light damage before entering Wichita County about 5 miles northeast of Harrold. Continuing at F4 intensity, the now massive wedge tornado, which was at its maximum 1.5 miles (2.4km) wide, cut a 2.5-mile (4.0km) swath of destruction through the south side of town. This huge F4 first touched down about 3 miles northeast of Holliday. A mattress fell beside the vehicle and I looked out to see a woman standing in what appeared to be a junk yard. Small buildings were damaged or destroyed, and roofs, signs, oil field derricks and tanks were damaged. One more more brief tornadoes occurred within a larger area of straight-line wind damage in Lauderdale County. The tornado blew many of those vehicles off those roadways, inflicting numerous fatalities. Most of the deaths were in Wichita Falls and Vernon, Texas . One person was injured. Stones as large as two inches were reported further to our northeast. One F4 tornado impacted Vernon, Texas. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Living in Tornado Alley, I'm most familiar with tornados. The tornado was eventually rated F5 and was the first violent tornado on record to strike the Wichita Falls area. Texas was extremely unstable early in the evening (Figure 25). Assuredly, no two years weatherwise in Texas are even remotely similar, for the community that reeled one year from a capricious dry spell likely is the recipient of plenty of rain in the following year, while a not-too-distant neighboring locale that hurt from a disastrous hailstorm one Spring experiences relative calm during the following year's storm season. Three isolated supercells, forming in mid afternoon, moved northeastward as a trio and were responsible for the worst part of the outbreak. This storm appeared insignificant compared to what we had seen so we drifted southwest in search of something better. Stability indices indicated the air throughout central. Past Weather Events It is estimated that 5,000 families, consisting of almost 20,000 people, were left homeless in Wichita Falls. Some of these people attempted to run to their cars from the mall. 128 followers. Wichita Falls Buries the First of 44 Tornado Victims, https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/14/archives/wichita-falls-buries-the-first-of-44-tornado-victims.html. 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. Most of the homes in Faith Village were demolished. 38 On April 10, 1979, a series of deadly tornadoes broke out near the Texas-Oklahoma border. Total property damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400,000,000 (in 1979 dollars). Tours. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. (Documented and rated F2 by Grazulis. Just after 5:00 p.m., another tornado spawned by the same thunderstorm system crashed into Lawton, Oklahoma. Joe Landon Haney. The funnel was quite close at this time and large black crows were caught up in the outer circulation. Maximum path length was about 3/4 mile and the width was 50 to 60 yards. Tornado caused $3,500,000 to the downtown business district in. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Hazardous Weather Outlook Evan got up, the moonlight bouncing off his not so wicked blue eyes. This report is an attempt to describe thoroughly but concisely the noteworthy elements of the Texas weather scene throughout 1979. As the tornado crossed Kemp Boulevard in Wichita Falls, several commercial businesses, including a restaurant, were destroyed with several additional fatalities. Published In . The tornado was also captured on film by Troy Glover from the roof of the Bethania hospital (location #8). Beyond the shopping mall, the tornado crossed a greenbelt area, skirted Midwestern State University on its south side, and severely damaged several more housing additions (Colonial Park, Hursh, Southmoor, Southwinds, and Southern Hills). 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). Rivers and Lakes Submit a Spot Forecast This followed an earlier warning at 5:08 pm, due to the Rocky Point tornado. Residents of Wichita Falls and Wichita County had been receiving severe weather warnings for close to an hour before the tornado reached the city around 6 p.m. A 368-foot radio antenna and 2 others antennas were blown down, and multiple power lines were downed. The Wichita Falls tornado formed several miles southwest of the city in Archer County, and traveled over mostly open terrain. It was spectacular to watch! It didn't seem like any storms were in the area. Wolfgang Lange, View looking southwest near Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas at the approaching tornado. 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. 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. 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. 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). He shot these images one handed while driving down a dirt road. After dark, another jet stream wind maximum moved northeastward into west central and northern Texas, sparking a second round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. In the upper atmosphere, the nose of an extremely strong jet stream wind maximum was moving eastward through northern Mexico, preparing to turn northeastward and take aim on Texas and Oklahoma. 44 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed. Using spotter and radar reports, Lawton officials sounded the siren system to warn the people of the approaching storm. 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. WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) . The tornado was 1.5 miles wide as it passed through 8 miles of residential area in Wichita Falls. The mall was on the north side of the tornado path and appeared to escape the most violent winds. We May 23, 1888 - A tornado moved northeastward and passed 6 miles west of Wichita Falls during the evening of May 23, 1888. As the tornado neared the road it began to shrink in size and slowed a little, aiding our hasty retreat. In the early afternoon hours, three supercell thunderstorms formed. Several other mobile homes in the area sustained minor damage, and homes to the east on Carriage Lane also received minor damage. passed away on Thursday, February 23, 2023 in Wichita Falls Texas. Before leaving the east side of the city, the tornado destroyed the Sun Valley housing area, the Sunnyside Heights Mobile Home Park, and several large commercial businesses, including the Levi Strauss Plant. The event would put Wichita Falls in the national news and history books, while almost taking it off of the map. (Rated F2 by the NWS. No fatalities or serious injuries occurred, but 13 people were treated for minor injuries, mostly as a result of flying glass. Rampaging killer tornadoes and devastating floodwaters brought unparalleled tragedy to groups of communities in the Low Rolling Plains and the Upper Coast of Texas during April. As we drove northeast on US 70, debris was still falling to the ground. April 26, 1991. Tornado left suction vortex marks in open fields. McNeil Junior High school was next in the path of the tornado and the school was severely damaged. Numerous other thunderstorms trekked across the area between Abilene, Wichita Falls, and Brownwood during the early evening, as the surface front, now occluded in the Panhandle, pushed relentlessly eastward. Wrecked cars were smashed against bridge abutments, a power plant was knocked out, and part of a high school was destroyed. Storm Spotter Training In addition, the author hopes that the analyses will serve as a handy source of reference to those who seek to recall the past and those whose research work attempts to relate the weather to other aspects of human existence. 38 on april 10, 1979, a power plant was knocked out, and homes the! 3 miles northeast of Holliday area in Wichita Falls even damaged north side of map! 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