Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

2012 tornadoes in Alabama

56 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in 2012, 59 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 82.

2011 2013 The whole country in 2012

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Alabama in 2012

January 23 11 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 232:36 AM CSTEF0Sumter0.4100
January 232:42 AM CSTEF2Tuscaloosa0.5400
January 233:00 AM CSTEF2Tuscaloosa0.6300
January 233:09 AM CSTEF2Tuscaloosa13.188011
January 233:21 AM CSTEF0Sumter1.150
January 233:58 AM CSTEF3Jefferson15.7800175
January 234:33 AM CSTEF1Perry2.1300
January 234:37 AM CSTEF2Perry39.8880
January 235:35 AM CSTEF0Talladega5.450
January 236:36 AM CSTEF1Chilton3.6500
January 237:48 AM CSTEF1Elmore4.0200

January 26 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 269:35 AM CSTEF0Choctaw0.480$7,000
January 2611:00 AM CSTEF0Perry0.6100

March 1 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 11:02 PM CSTEF1Geneva6.750$50,000
March 11:14 PM CSTEF1Geneva0.330$5,000

March 2 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 29:10 AM CSTEF3Limestone34.0250
March 210:06 AM CSTEF2Madison7.3220
March 210:08 AM CSTEF1Franklin to TN0.9100$10,000
March 21:55 PM CSTEF0Limestone2.750
March 23:26 PM CSTEF0Limestone5.075
March 23:39 PM CSTEF1Limestone to KY, OH2.6150
March 25:01 PM CSTEF0Coffee0.525
March 25:53 PM CSTEF1Lowndes17.6400
March 26:17 PM CSTEF0Geneva0.125
March 29:15 PM CSTEF1Perry18.9700
March 210:01 PM CSTEF2Chilton28.3700
March 210:40 PM CSTEF2Tallapoosa34.01,00014

March 23 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 239:26 AM CDTEF1Pike1.7700
March 2312:48 PM CDTEF0Geneva1.725$25,000

May 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 132:02 PM CDTEF0Lee2.350

June 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1011:11 AM CDTEF1Geneva9.9440$100,000

August 30 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 302:44 AM CDTEF1Coffee3.035$25,000
August 3010:58 AM CDTEF0Choctaw0.050$5,000

September 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 174:12 PM CDTEF0Geneva0.120$10,000

October 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 14:47 AM CDTEF0Coosa0.5150

October 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 1412:18 AM CDTEF0Jefferson0.3200

December 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 104:43 AM CSTEF1Jefferson1.1250

December 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 204:49 AM CSTEF1Mobile6.775

December 25 18 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 253:15 PM CSTEF1Marengo4.7100
December 253:31 PM CSTEF0Coffee0.010$2,000
December 254:21 PM CSTEF0Crenshaw0.250
December 254:28 PM CSTEF0Crenshaw0.120
December 254:45 PM CSTEF2Choctaw5.9880
December 254:54 PM CSTEF2Mobile5.2200$1.4 million
December 255:27 PM CSTEF1Dale5.4300
December 255:50 PM CSTEF1Marengo5.9500
December 255:53 PM CSTEF1Washington2.2110
December 256:00 PM CSTEF2Clarke24.8150
December 256:05 PM CSTEF0Coffee13.925$5,000
December 256:36 PM CSTEF1Wilcox5.080
December 257:22 PM CSTEF1Mobile6.7100
December 258:09 PM CSTEF1Lowndes2.0300
December 258:26 PM CSTEF0Lowndes0.675
December 258:32 PM CSTEF2Lowndes9.6900
December 2510:24 PM CSTEF2Pike15.76002
December 2510:29 PM CSTEF1Montgomery0.7100

Nearby

Every tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in AlabamaThe live radar over Alabama

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.