Thunderstorming On Terrible Tuesday Tornado 45th Anniversary

The view is stormy, looking north from one of my living room windows, on this second Wednesday of the 2024 version of April.

Lightning is striking, thunder is booming, wind is blowing, rain is downpouring.

I shall stay dry inside today. I don't even think I will try to venture out in it to drive to Walmart for some salubrious indoor fast walking. I'll just try and get by today without my regular endorphin fix.

Today is the 45th anniversary of the deadliest tornado to twist its way through Wichita Falls.

I learned this when I clicked on this morning's edition of the Wichita Falls Times-Record News, That would make the above a screen cap from today's local newspaper.

The tornado known locally as Terrible Tuesday struck on April 10, 1979.

My current abode is a short distance south of the path of that tornado.

I have seen three tornadoes since I have been in Texas. All have looked like the above photo of the Terrible Tuesday tornado. I have never seen the stereotypical twister type tornado.

Acquiring Endorphins At Sikes Lake With A Terrible Tuesday Tornado Memorial Sidetrip

The past couple days I have not acquired my required dose of endorphins via aerobic stimulation, due to not wanting to be in the outer world with it being wet and cold.

Pushing a shopping cart for a half hour, in Walmart, really does not suffice in the endorphin acquisition department.

Without my endorphin fix I start to get grumpy. I assume this to be like the withdrawal misery a drug addict experiences when a drug fix is not to be had. I also assume endorphin withdrawal is likely much milder than withdrawal symptoms from something more potent.

So, today, on this final Thursday of the 2024 version of March, with the outer world back being warm, I ventured to nearby Sikes Lake for some high-speed endorphin acquisition.

Along with a lot of other people enjoying the return to non-winter-like conditions.

Today I exited the Sikes Lake trail at the west end to enter the Wood Memorial Park.

There is a monument in Wood Memorial Park. That is what you see photo documented above.

This memorial memorializes those who died in the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak.

Known in Wichita Falls as Terrible Tuesday.

This memorial is located in the path of the deadly tornado. The Red River Valley tornadoes broke out on April 10, 1979, killing 58 people, injuring 1,927 more.

I have experienced three tornadoes since I have been in Texas. I have never seen the stereotypical twister. All I have seen is a dark, greenish wall cloud, with the tornado somewhere behind the wall.

Wichita Falls Moves From Tornado Alley To Wildfire Alley

I saw that which you above, this first Saturday morning of the 2022 version of April, in an article in today's Wichita Falls Times News Record. Apparently, I am no longer residing at the Southern end of what is known as Tornado Alley.

I now live in Wildfire Alley.

Other than the weekly tornado sirens test I have not heard the tornado sirens erupt in Wichita Falls since I have been in this town. I have also not seen a wildfire since being here. When I lived in the DFW zone I thrice had up close tornado experiences. 

But, I have never seen a stereotypical twister of the likes one expects to see. Instead all I've seen is an angry looking odd-colored wall of clouds, in which a tornado was spinning.

Last night I thought we might be going into tornado mode, due to the wall of black clouds I saw to the west as the sun set. That turned into a few lightning strikes, along with some rain, but little wind.

My location in this town is right where one of the worst tornadoes ever to twist, twisted into town, way back in 1979. This is known, locally, as Terrible Tuesday. This deadly tornado spun through the area I live in, doing damage along Southwest Parkway, the Sikes Senter mall, and the MSU president's residence, among other locations I am familiar with.

There is a historical marker marking the Terrible Tuesday Tornado at the park at the west end of Sikes Lake.

This deadly Wichita Falls tornado was part of what is known as the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak.

Four informative paragraphs about the Wichita Falls Terrible Tuesday Tornado in the Wikipedia article about the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak.

The Wichita Falls tornado formed in Archer County and moved northeast and damaged a few rural homes and high voltage towers. It rapidly intensified as it entered the city near Memorial Stadium by McNiel Jr. High on Southwest Parkway, which was located to the west of Wichita Falls at approximately 6:07 p.m. damaging both structures severely. Hail the size of golf balls preceded the touchdown and continued for approximately 15 minutes. It then became calm before the winds began to pick up.

The massive wedge tornado, which was at its maximum 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide, cut a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) swath of destruction through the south side of town, leveling everything in its path. It destroyed an apartment complex near the beginning of its path. It also took its first lives there. It later destroyed a restaurant, the majority of Sikes Senter, the major mall, and another apartment complex where it took more lives. Neighborhoods all along Southwest Parkway were leveled and nothing but debris and destruction remained.

A number of people tried to flee as the tornado moved along U.S. Highways 281 and 287. Roughly half of the 42 people killed were in their cars. It then moved into Clay County and changed its appearance to display a multiple-vortex structure. There were at times five separate vortices visible within the tornado. It inflicted additional damage south of Dean and Byers, but no more fatalities occurred. It crossed into Oklahoma where additional damage occurred before it dissipated.

The injury count for this tornado was 1,740, the most injuries ever recorded for an F4/EF4 tornado

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I hope it is not tempting fate to suggest Wichita Falls is no longer in Tornado Alley...