Wichita Falls Texas Tornado - April 10 1979

[doriachris]

the tornado was a Ef4 it was not a 5 but i may be wrong

[MissMaddy881]

*what was this tornado? i'd say F3, but i might be wrong.

[ColleenPinksand]

@MissMaddy881 F5

[MissMaddy881]

what was this tornado? it looks like a 

[AJTwister97]

you do realize that some of this footage is the binger tornado, right?

[DiRiddles]

I was in this tornado and I would like to point out that this struck in the afternoon. Some of the shots (Kentucky Fried Chicken) look like it was at night but that is only because the tornado and the storm that it came from were so huge and black that they completely blocked out the sun. After the storm passed, it was daylight again.

[ShellyeJo]

@DiRiddles

You are right about it being in the afternoon. It was right around the time school was letting out and it got so dark it looked like midnight. It was so creepy.

[MissMaddy881]

@ShellyeJo yeah, :55 is so creepy! my parents were married at this time and i wasn't born until 1990.

[singingsheila42]

I was 10 and getting ready to Celebrate my birthday when this hit I still get freaked out when a storm hits Wichita Falls even without a Tornado

[xXAllThatRemainsxXx]

I lived in wichita Falls,Texas when I was 9 and 10 back in 2004 and 2005

[ShellyeJo]

I lived in Vernon, TX and we had a bad tornado that same day. I was only 9 at the time and was home alone because my mom was taking my little brother to the doctor and I was so scared.

[metalixmillenium15]

@ShellyeJo

Whoah! What did you do?

[ShellyeJo]

@metalixmillenium15

I ran to the grocery store across the street from our house because I knew there were adults there. I lost my flip flop in the mud and the store put us all in the back room where there were no windows. Thankfully the tornado actually skipped over our part of town because if it had hit the store, we probably would have died.

[corvus00]

I was about 40 miles away in Olney, TX when that tornado hit. There were several smaller ones in that whole area. It was an utterly surreal day.

[davis50101]

I wonder how fast was it moving?

[MRBIGRED35]

I remember this storm when , I was 9 yrs old. I lived in Lawton , Okla at the time(only 30 miles away from Wichita Falls). The city at that time was about the size of Wichita Falls(little smaller) . The same storm cell hit our town later which tripped a tornado that tore down Lee Blvd , appx 3 blocks from our house at that time. I'll never forget about being inside that bathtub with that matress over me and my brother and sister

[DiRiddles]

@MRBIGRED35

Actually, it is 50 miles between the two. I was born in Lawton but I was living in Wichita Falls when this tornado hit.

[frazzledjt]

My great grandmother was killed in this tornado. I was 11 years old when it happened, and will never forget standing on the concrete slab that used to be her house, and looking around me at the total devastation! Her name was Pearl Morris, and she was the sweetest lady you could ever know.

[crazyjoel123]

@frazzledjt Sorry to hear that..... But mother nature can sometimes take away the helpless souls that are in it's path. Sometimes, you have to face whats coming, we just have to get over it. Once something happens, theres no going back, just keep moving forward, and don't turn back, those are mother natures words, not mine. Ma'am we have been in war with mother nature since the beginning of time, we can't fight back, theres no way we can... :(

[ShellyeJo]

@frazzledjt

So sorry that you lost your great grandmother to this storm. :(

[nintendowii20001]

i have a tape about this tornado.it is said that it was 10 city blocks wide.i dont know what the speed of the tornado was.

[1982Moonbird]

That thing looks just friggin' evil.

[CaptKundalini]

That was an F-5 tornado.

[dragonridley]

@CaptKundalini

Officially it was an F4.

[ZanyJIntPictures]

I was in that tornado when it hit Vernon I was only a mile from it; we were lucky to have gotten away from it and back into Oklahoma

[nintendowii20001]

@ZanyJIntPictures really?

[MissMaddy881]

0:56

scary!

[Abe91195]

i was 15, this year was one the best years of my life, i went to go see led zeppelin in the knebworth festival later that year

[aliandjamie]

My grammie june told me the story of this. she was sucked up in it and had to use her dry cleaning as a cover for her face and debris

[aliandjamie]

@aliandjamie *to sorta protect her from debris

[TheRello99]

@aliandjamie OMG your granny was sucked up into it!!!!!!!!!!

[aliandjamie]

@TheRello99 mhm. and my daddy was at some circus thing with his uncles and couldnt go home. my mom could see it from henrietta. they all told me their parts of the storyy..

[TheRello99]

@aliandjamie all I need to say is holy sh*t!!

[TheMightykaz]

Looked it up. It would actually be considered an f5 by today's fujita scale.

[TheRello99]

@TheMightykaz It looks like an F5 but its officially classed as an F4

[david052856]

@TheRello99 No its officially an F5

[TheMightykaz]

Thought this was an f5?

[Dazarooni]

Very nasty looking tornado.

[tudssquadbuisness]

This is a true horror film considering that it's real.

[AMVsoldier18]

That is FUCKING scary.

[w3tua]

@AMVsoldier18 It was to say the least. I was with my parents and neighbors in a cellar as this MONSTER tore apart my entire neighborhood. It scared the heck out my 7-year-old self.

[AMVsoldier18]

@w3tua Your shitn' me. you were there?

[MrBraydenbaker]

mother nature is a work of art

[clash7samurai]

i'm not sure if it's partially because of the older 8mm film, but this tornado has some of the nastiest black clouds i've seen

[abirocs15]

my teacher was in this torando! ps SHE TOLD US

[take2east]

It was my first one at 8.......

[TommyJoebowers1tycoo]

As a weather enthusiast, a view of a tornado is a rush; much excitement. Driving through the city of W'Falls and seeing an occasional slab where a house once stood, or hearing a persons story (God forbid) of a lost loved one brings humanity into the equation.....very sobering, and something to remember when viewing storms. Decorum

[Bree1059]

I live in W.F & I was conceived around the time of this tornado, I was born almost 9 months to the day after the tornado hit * Jan 9 , 1980 * . My mom was working for the city that day putting up play ground equipment. She told me some stories about that day. I pray we never have to see a tornado like that again, it's been almost 31 years.

[cherlynnguy]

I was in the 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls, TX. I meet some of the bravest people I have ever known there. The thing I remember most was the sound as that thing approached. It was so quite at first, then the dogs started howling and then that awful sound. Does anyone have a recording of the sound that monster made?

[royaltyguy420]

wish it had sound

[royaltyguy420]

I wasnt born yet when this happend lol i was born in 84 but i remember hearing a story behind it cause i live here. My dad saved my mom and her sisters and mom and dad, they were in the storm shelter and the tornado destroyed their town and knocked wood and bricks all over the door to get out of the storm shelter and my dad had to fig out which house it was and he said he could hear them yelling for help and he got all the rubble off the door and let them out. my bro and sis were little like 8n6

[FireXXXHeart]

My aunt was in this tornado. It completely destroyed her neighborhood, along with most of Wichita Falls. This day is referred to as "Terrible Tuesday"

[GoldenHanyou]

I saw several aerial photos. In one, I counted at least seven funnels, side-by-side like marching soldiers. We moved there years after the tornado, but evidence was everywhere and some people had that empty look in their eyes and you knew they had gone through something terrible with the tornado.

[dragonridley]

I heard something about this tornado that most of the deaths occurred in cars.

[HannahMileyFan4u]

me too. I read it in a book at school though.

[McFappin]

@dragonridley

yes most of the deaths occured in cars thrown off of overpass bridges. I was a young child hiding with my mother father and grandparents under one of those overpasses. I only remember that I was screaming because my father was clutching me to his chest and the debris in the wind was blistering my face and stinging my eyes. Luckily we survived, 7 people on the bridge above up did not.

[marianware]

I remember this tornado well. I was a senior at Rider HS. I lost one of my best friends to this tornado. RIP Ember Hull. We'll always remember you and your sweet sister Kelly (also lost to the tornado).

[SilverGoldnew]

RIP, thats sad, sorry ="(

[13svincent]

oh ya, i think my cousin told me abvout this tornado, he is a vernon cop, and it was bad if i remember right, it took out a hotel.

[jamesrichardson63]

uhmmm...."a"  hotel?? wow. r u sure?

[nikkiepping]

I was there that awful day....

[mrstaylorlaunter1]

its was on my birthday thats all i am saying. use your imagination with this one

[corvettefan96]

wow, a lot of people on youtube were in this tornado.

[metal4life160]

Look at Wichita now! You've come a long way babayyyyyyy!

[corvettefan96]

I think Whichita and whichita falls are two different towns

[metal4life160]

wtf..i didnt sya anything bout this video..someone was on my account..and i know it wasnt anyone i know...shit i think someone found a way in my account!

[bruce64h]

hard to believe it's been 30 years since it happened.

[w3tua]

This monster has haunted me every time I hear thunder. I was 7 when it removed my entire neighborhood near the National Guard armory.

[roz59]

I was 19...my dad worked at KTRN, the only station that was on that night...everything else has been knocked out. I remember is was sooo dark and quiet that night. I wasn't hit, but my babysister was in it.

[ccrulz65]

This was ten days before my 14th birthday, our house wasn't destroyed but we had the neighbor's roof and interior in our yard, amongst other things. The National Guard was sent to our house to clear it out because they were concerned that the smell was a dead body, it wasn't thank goodness. We lived right off of HWY 287 coming into WF..I will never forget it. The trailer park that is rebuilt was destroyed and I saw a woman on top of the rubble that had been killed...

[Momoftwinsplus1]

I was almost 3, and lived in Duncan OK but my Aunt lived in Wichita Falls, we went to be with her, she was without power but house survived, we cooked in fireplace and lit candles. It is one of my very first memories.

[Velinator]

I survived this tornado when I was 11. It formed a few blocks from our house. My family fled from it in our car. When the thing dropped to the ground, my dad made the decision that we had to try to out run it & we jumped in his car. The closet that we were going to hide in was destroyed when my mom's car flew right through it into the backyard. Had we stayed, I'm know we would've been killed. We lost everything. The only thing left was a T-wall. One of the worst days of my life.

[Velinator]

The bathroom mirror on the medicine cabinet was gone, but the light bulb was still in its socket, unbroken. That's the only thing we had left...1 light bulb....lol.

[BannerFlair]

my dad was about to graduate when this storm happened. he told me about this tornado and so i looked it up. its CRAZY!

[gstarr567]

i rember bouncing around in it it was fun

[lowendewey74029]

My grandparents lived in Petrolia and I remember my grandfather saying that they watched it. He told me that they found car's in Jolly that were from Wichita, looked like it they were just picked up and sat down

[robysasi]

I was eight and lived down the street from the stadium where it began. We were very lucky.

[shanlbc]

I was there too.I was only 9 yrs old. Our church was destroyed, my sister's school was flattened, and every store where we regularly shopped was destroyed too. One of our babysitters was killed at the sizzlin' sirloin. For a week after going back to school, the teachers let us stand up in front of the class and tell stories of all the crazy things we heard.I guess I am lucky to be alive because my parents were some of the geniuses that tried to outrun it in our van. They were just so scared.

[w3tua]

Did you go to McGaha? That's where I went.

[nickettao]

I went to McGaha. What grade were you in? I was 9. I remember getting out of school early that day.

Nicketta Ezzell

[w3tua]

I was in 1st grade. My teacher was a big black lady named Mrs. Fields. She was awesome.

[callie876]

my mom was there

[Burnsengine]

My uncle and his wife were the last ones out of the sizzlin sirloin steakhouse (i think that was the name of the restaurant).. his story is incredible. He tried to outrun the thing as it approached from the SW by crossing in front of it @ the corner of SW Pkwy and Kemp... the car beside him went up into the air and the tree nursery on the corner exploded. He ran thru the light and turned east on SW pkwy and outran it. His other car, still at the restaurant was found 2 miles away in a ball.

[erandyg1311]

yhat is a day before my birth day...and way before i was born or not that much...but i live about 50 miles from wichita....so yea i9 ve heard about that tornado...my parents told me about it

[farrgone56]

My daughter was born in July after, I almost lost her from the sress. We lived in Holliday at the time.

Just wondering....you say 50 miles, could that be Seymour?

[erandyg1311]

no vernon

[t239]

Wichita has always been a shithole place to live in anyway.

[brdn94]

you have no idea what the hell your even talking about

[Burnsengine]

that was a bad day. We drove into wf the next day to check on our family... everything was gone. The only cars on hwy 287 were upside down or wrapped around telephone poles. Still remember it well.

[w3tua]

I know what you mean when you mentioned everything was gone. My house was gone. The only thing left was the bathtub. All we had were the clothes on our back and our car which, by God's grace, had every window shattered but still ran with no flat tires.

[KingOGITH]

i seen a Better picture then that'

when i went to News Channel 4

in Oklahoma City.

[Texasbredandborn]

My parent's farm was at least 20 miles NE of Wichita Falls along the Red River. 3 funnels passed through the farm (barbed wire fences destroyed in each path) While they were in the cellar, only shingles blown off the house but all the barns gone. They found clothing with price tags still on them from the WF mall. A cow was walking around with a 2x4 blown into her side at least 12 inches. Very traumatic.

[aSAMproduction]

i use to live in Wichita falls and my mom went through that terrible day and my grandpa tried to out run it but it picked up his car and through him back down to the ground and he was sitting in his car waiting for someone to come find him and he was found and he lived! my grandma took all of her kids and left the house and took them to a hotel and they went to the basement and the hotel was destroyed and the funny thing was the tornado didn't even come near her house i thought it was scary !

[jamesriker66]

i was there april 10 1979 on that day hiding under a bridge with i now know was wrong.

[timreap]

I spent time at Sheppard AFB and they have pictures of what it did to aircraft. This is one of the worst tornadoes in history.

[maxtondude]

I bet that one must have been a scary sight for those who had to see it

[hottentot0o7]

I was 13 when that monster, which was 3 funnels merged into 1, came within 1/2 block of my house.

[imtxsmoke]

I remember this twister. I was 22 and this was one of the worst I can ever remember. Most of the people killed tried to outrun it in their cars. Big mistake... Over a mile wide and moving over 60 mph. I never realized there was a video. This one and the twister that hit Jarell Tx in 1997 are the worst TX twisters I can remember.

[JaxieBoy]

@imtxsmoke: Never try to outrun a tornado unless

you know how fast it's going. I think most people didn't pay enough attention to the radio reports, and didn't realize it had caught up to them until it was too late.

[Screwge1976]

My husband was in this tornado, he was 4 yrs old and he remembers running from it with his parents and siblings. They ended up under an overpass when the tornado came over it. He still has scars from the debri hitting his legs. It was an amazing tornado and his family has shown me pictures of the destruction. You have to respect mother nature.

[gunnut91]

god i wish i couldve seen that, i live in wichita falls but i was born about 12 years after it happened

[royaltyguy420]

ha your only 18 now lol, i was born in 84 and i didnt see it either. but i live here and always have for 24 almost 25 years

[chris12brina]

my garndpa was standing out side his house as the tornado came towards him my mom and her sisters tryed to get him inside but he told them that if he was gooing to die he wanted to see the tornado as it killed him. the tornado luckly turned and went a diff way. by far the worst tornado that has hit texas

[rebelsmiley11]

terrible tuesday such a sad day i still live here and i love it

[phamilto]

at :45 second it's so big that it's out of the video frame, that's awesome, awesome, awesome vid.

[anime4life44444444]

did u know that tornado was 2 miles wide

[MattWestThePossum]

I believe it was actually made up of like 3 tornadoes, they merged/touched down about 200 yards from where my house is.

My schools marching band did a halftime show over this tornado, they called it F5, a little odd, but apparently, before the F-scale was like, reorganized, it was considered to be an F5

[blufool1]

What a day that was. i was living there then and went right through the center of it!!!!!!!! i was at work on jacksboro highway. it was black as night. the walls were slammed with all sorts of things and the ground shook!!! i was lucky to survive!!

[tyRONasaur]

Two things that I recall about this tornado. Like you said, it was black as night, yet it was still about 4pm but the black clouds blotted out the sun. The other thing was, the clouds were so low that day, it was almost as if the sky was inches off the ground looking at the horizon. I will never forget that day.

[jewshajay]

I was 14 and lived in Fountain Park. I cut my arm on a piece of glass not related to the tornado but was on the way to the hospital. The aftermath of the tornado left over 100 persons sitting all over the lawn of the hospital waiting for treatment. It truly resembled a picuture from a war zone.

[mellaman2006]

we moved there in 81 and saw pictures of it. What a horrible tornado. i remember the bank vault they left standing, is it still there? Hey how is Rider high school? We moved away in 1985.

[MattWestThePossum]

Rider is sweet, thank you.

[sittinginthebasement]

Not sure it is the same bank vault, but my husband's cousin was president of a bank on Southwest Parkway, and it was blown away except for the vault--he went down there with a lawn chair and a shotgun and stayed until the money was transfered.

[farrgone56]

I remember that very well, that vault was the only thing left on Southwest Parkway.

[rainedayztx]

I lived in Vernon in 79 and the one tht hit Vernon missed our home by a few blocks.Something I will never forget.

[booger963]

my mom and dad were in this tornado my mom broke her leg and arm.... a wall fell on her =(

[Angel042401]

that pretty sad. I'm glad she's okay.

[wcuram2001]

I was one year old when this tornado struck and my Mom and my sister were at the mall movie theatre watching Bed Knobs and Broom Sticks and the entire half of the mall as my mom says was ripped apart they had a vw bug that was somehow still standing in the mall parking lot yet somehow big campers were toppled over. It's a story I grew up with and will never forget!

[Kayitlen]

I will never forget this day. I was stationed at the AFB and rememeber the total destruction. I was a medic and so went out after to search for survivors - a day I will never forget.

[seniormasterb]

I lived at 3012 Thomas at the time and worked for KFDX -Tv . We watched it all unfold from the parking lot. That included the "satellite" twisters ..... one of which knocked over the drive-in movie screen out there on Seymour Hwy. It's hard to believe it's been almost 30 years! A family friend lost his son that day and he was never the same. I guess ..... none of us were ever the same after going thru that!

[cavebilly]

I was on my way to see Eric Clapton that eve. Muddy Waters was the back up band! Glad I missed the NADER

[christiesmithm]

this monster messed me up for life, I was in a ditch in the direct most intense part at southwest pkwy and Hughes.

[XtremeWeirdo]

Ooo, vintage... Nice find!

[JaxieBoy]

A former geography teacher says his mom used to tell him about this tornado.

[swmdal]

I'm always surprised to see that KFC sign flashing away on Fairway at Southwest Parkway with the tornado so near. I had thought that it had already knocked over the high-voltage power lines near the stadium by the time it got to that point. That KFC was never rebuilt, as far as I know.

[usgitmo38]

there is no way that tornado was an f4 impossible.

[precioustoGod2]

how do you figure that? It was an F4 it is not only the size of the tornado that determines the Fscale but also what it "eats" or destroys to put it plainly.

[KrystalFrizz]

Size has nothing to do with it.

[Angel042401]

not to mention wind speed.

[tyRONasaur]

My understanding of the F scale always was wind speed and damage done. I am gonna look into it further, but I am certain that is what determines the F class of a tornado.

[mmcgwire]

Wind speed yes, but since it is difficult to measure the wind speed inside a funnel, the types of structural damage can be used to determine the EF scale of a tornado. For example, if trees are stripped and foundations are wiped clean.. an EF-5 is likely.

[fajardo03]

I was there for the tornado in 79, barely remember it. It was my first tornado, and what a tornado it was. We lived near downtown close to the library so we went there, it kinda goes underground.

[Anticyclonic]

Thanks, guys. Willie, I'm going more and more on your theory of the silent videos; I like them as well. Certain twisters just need music, like if I'm trying to get across a message (a particular trait the tornado is known for, like Moore and its windspeed, or Andover and its many guises. I'm in no way making light of those who perished, I'm concentrating solely on the twister itself). I wish tornadoes would occur out on the plains 100% of the time so we could simply admire them, not fear them.

[stormchasingmikey]

Awesome footage AC! That storm looks like a monster.  Where in the world do you find this footage?

[Anticyclonic]

The majority I get from my own vast collection. I've been obsessed with twisters since I was...wait for it...FOUR YEARS OLD. One of my earliest memories is of a severe storm moving into the area as I was riding my TRICYCLE on the road in front of the house, and peddling in the direction the storm was heading. Of course, people were heading into their houses and I stayed outside until I was ushered in by my mother, LOL.

[ILovestorms]

There was also an F4 tornado on that day that struck Vernon, Texas about 50 miles WNW of Wichita Falls, killed 11 people. It happened about 3:00 that afternoon and Wichita Falls, about 6:00 that evening.

[tyRONasaur]

It was the same storm cell. It touched down in Texas, went back up and touched down on the other side of the river in Oklahoma. It hopped liked this at least twice more before it hit Wichita Falls. Our hospital was taking the overflow victims from Vernon and Chillicothe in through our emergency room when it hit us. You never forget a day like that.

[Adazard]

My mom was there, as a nurse, helping out.

[Adazard]

She was from Bowie, TX if y'all know where that is. She was at home watching tv when it all of a sudden went off. She then had to go back to the hospital to work and later that day she alont with others from the area were called out to help with the victims of the tornado that happened in wichita falls. It turns out that that tornado actually hit the television broadcast tower and thats what cause her tv to lose signal. She told me that people claimed it was like four tornados coming together.

[darrinrasberry]

Indeed, the claim was true, as photographs on the National Weather Service website show several satellite tornadoes as the monster hit Memorial Stadium.

Although the tornado remained a defined wedge through most of town, it took on multiple vortex characteristics as it passed over my home in the Southwinds neighborhood.

This was a dangerous storm indeed - an F5 in my opinion, since I think the evaluation of poor construction in Faith Village (its worst damage path) was unfair.

[CreativeCritisizm]

I think the Sykes Shopping Center was hit the worst ?

[WillieDines1]

Yet another very nice piece of footage :), and again, I like the silence of it being just the footage :)

In some ways, the slience is kinda like having a 2 minute silence in respect, for those who died from the tornado.

Another top rating yet again AC :), thank you for uploading this :) Willie

[ColonelAngus75]

Nice! That's the first time I've seen that footage at the end, so thanks for uploading this.