Stats
Path length: 10.4 miles
Width: 1760 yards
Fatalities: 6
Injuries: 31
Rating: F4
County: Hill
Tornado Path
Click Map To Enlarge
SPC coordinates: Start: 31.85 / -97.22 End: 31.98 / -97.13
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Summary
Nine tornadoes occurred on March 31, 1959. 6 were in Oklahoma, 2 in Texas, and 1 in Arkansas. One of the strongest, and the deadliest, was given a rating of F4. It moved 10.4 miles through parts of Hill County, TX. There were 6 fatalities. There may have been a seventh death. I did find newspaper articles that state a woman died from her injuries from this tornado, making that the 7th person killed. I have attached one of those articles in the newspaper section below.
Summary information from Storm Data and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes:
This tornado moved from the SE edge of Vaughan to about 8 miles north of Bynum. Per Storm Data, “Vaughan was almost completely destroyed.” 100+ buildings were damaged or destroyed. Per Grazulis, “five deaths were in four homes that were leveled to the ground.” Several homes and a tourist court were badly damaged at Lake Whitney. As the tornado moved across the Waco-Hillsboro Highway 5, five miles south of Hillsboro, a car was picked up and thrown 100 yards. The occupant was killed, and 2 others were injured.
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the March 1959 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Path Length:
- SPC/NCDC have the length at 10.4 miles.
- Storm Data has a 20 mile path.
- Grazulis lists the path at 15 miles.
Width:
- SPC/NCDC have a width of 1760 yards.
- Storm Data lists a width of 1320 yards.
- Grazulis has a 1000 yard width.
Fatalities:
- All sources list 6 fatalities from this tornado.
- I did find newspaper articles that state a woman died from her injuries from this tornado making that the 7th person killed. I have attached one of those articles below.
Coordinates:
The city of Bynum is mentioned as having damage per Storm Data and newspaper articles. Grazulis mentions that path moved to about 8 miles north of Bynum. The official plot though has the path west of Bynum. The ending point may be incorrect.
Sources:
March 1959 Storm Data Publication
Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 1019.
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