Nov. 17, 1958: The tornato occured at 7:15 am. and was on the ground for 2 miles. NO one was killed and there were no injuries. The twister was 200 yards wide. It hit four miles southwest of Wichita Falls. One house was unroffed and barn debris was scattered for a mile. A total of 90 houses were damaged by down-burst winds.
April 3, 1962 The tornato hit at 10:45 pm. No one was killed, but 13 people were injured. The tornato was 100 yards wide and was on the ground for three miles. It touched down five miles north of Wichita Falls, damaging 30 homes. The funnel hit near and at the edge of Sheppard Air Force Base. Five unoccupide two-story barracks were distroyed, along with a hangar, power installations and the 10-story control tower. Outside the Air Fotce base, homes were unroofed in a housing development and a parking garage was destroyed.
April 3, 1964: The tornato touched down at 2:35 p.m. seven were killed and 111 injured.
The twister was 500 yards wide and stayed on the ground 5.6 miles. this " large and spectacular tornato" hit the northwest portion of Wichita Falls ans Sheppard Air Force Base. The tornato first touched the ground near the intersection of FM 369 and Symour Highway. It then moved to the east northeast across U.S. 287 and into the Sunset Terrace Addition. IT then crossed Red River expressway into the Lincon Heights Addition and onto Sheppard. The funnellifted before it could strike the Sheppard school, which was showered with debris. At least 225 homes were destroyedand another 250 were damaged. Half of the dollar amount of damage was on the base, where three tanker planes, a hangar, the power plant and chapel were destroyed. There were 36 injured on the base.there were 100 people on the hangar but none wre injured. Of the seven death, six occurred in five different homes, and one man was killed when his truck was thrown off the road. Estimated loss was $ 15 million.
april 10, 1979: "Terrible Tuesday" There were 13 tornatos in this area that day. The one that hit Wichita Falls touched down at 5:50 p.m., killing 42 people and injuring 1,740. It was 1,300 yeards wide and remained on the ground for 47 miles. It began about three miles east northeast from Holliday, Texas, and would become one of the most destructive in history. before hitting Wichita Falls, the the tornato unrofed homes and destroyed oil storage tanks and six stell tranmission towers as the funnel entered Wichita Falls. In the city, it first struck Memorial Stadium, then McNiel junior High School, heavily damaging both. It continued to the Western Hills area were it destroyed several apartments complaxes and caused the first deaths. Increasing in size, the massive funnel devastated an entire housing development and schools, including Ben Milam Elementary. The tornato then destroyed several businesses and struck a restaurant on Kemp, where it killed three people. It then crossed open fields and then moved to the Colonial Park area. It destroyed several more apartment complexes. The tornato then swept Through the Southmore Area, where it destryed more homes and a shopping center. After crossing U.S. 287, it struck the Sun Valley Addition, destroying more homes and apartments. It also leveled homes and businesses on the south side of U.S. 287. A large number of cars and trucks were smashed and some people wre killed along that highway. Industrial buildings were destroyed south of U.S. 79. The tornato was up to one ans a half miles wide as it passed throught eaght residential areas in Wichita Falls. A total of 42 people were killed outright and three others died of heart attacks. at least 25 of the deaths were autorelated., !6 of which were people who had entered their cars, trying to out-run the tornato. at least 30 of 59 serious injured were in cars and trucks. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and about 20.000 people were left homeless. As the tornato crossed the Red River into Oklahoma it veered to the north northeast and damaged or destroyed about 20 homes in Noble Wray area. The tornato lifted northeast of Waurika, Okla. Estimated damage was more then $400 million.
Well theres a little history on the Tornatos in Wichita Falls.
Thanks for reading this page.
Larry Castillo
Wichita Falls, Texas
April 13,2002