1979 tornado outbreak known as "Terrible Tuesday."

4/10/2020 (Permalink)

1979 tornado outbreak leaves massive damage and 57 dead in Texoma.

April 10th, 1979 started out like any other day in Texoma.

But as the day progressed, and the storms began to form, a good day turned into a bad day.

Around 3:05 in the afternoon, the first tornado formed near Crowell, Texas. About 35 minutes later, the first killer one of the outbreak ripped through Vernon and killed 11 people. Then the supercell spawned one that killed three people in Lawton, Oklahoma.

The third supercell was the one that formed the Seymour and Wichita Falls tornadoes as part of a three-member tornado family. The first tornado formed near Seymour at around 4:53 pm. The storm spawned a second tornado that moved through the south and east sides of Wichita Falls at around 6:00 pm. The third member of the family formed near Waurika at around 8:00 p.m.

By the end of the day, 54 people lost their lives in Texas, three were killed in Oklahoma and one was killed in Indiana.

The Wichita Falls tornado alone killed 42 people and caused $400 million in damage. The tornado cut a path 8 miles through the city, with significant devastation.

Today, we remember "Terrible Tuesday" and honor those who suffered damage from this storm.

And we're here to help Texoma residents recover from future storms that may occur.