EF2 tornado, Winn to Chance, Alabama, December 25, 2012

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

December 25, 2012

Touchdown

6:00 PM CST (00:00 UTC)

Lifted

6:40 PM CST (00:40 UTC)

On the ground

40 minutes

Path length

24.8 miles (40.0 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Clarke County

Touchdown point

31.618, -87.867

Lift-off point

31.828, -87.524

Record number

1212251800-01

12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Microburst...1/2 mile wide

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A powerful storm system moved out of the plains on|Christmas, producing numerous strong storms across southeast|Mississippi, southwest Alabama, and the western Florida panhandle|out ahead of a strong cold front and accompanying squall line. Multiple|tornadoes, some long track, were observed along the central gulf coast|region.

The tornado touched down on Todd Town Road|seven miles north of Jackson. It then moved northeast where|it destroyed a farm out building then crossed Highway 43|approximately six miles southwest of Grove Hill. After it|crossed...the tornado was at its widest and caused extensive|damage to farm equipment...including a destroyed grain bin.|Many large trees were uprooted in this area with minor structural|damage to several homes as well. It continued northeast uprooting|large trees as it crossed Highway 84...two miles southeast of|Grove Hill. The tornado then weakened as the thunderstorm core|collapsed...causing a microburst which resulted in a half mile|wide damage swath on Nettlesboro Road...13 miles northeast of|Grove Hill. The tornado then reformed before exiting northeast|Clarke County...moving into southwest Wilcox County. The tornado|uprooted trees along the way before dissipating 12 miles|southwest of Camden.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

44 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:16 UTC, 44 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:59 UTC and running to 02:53 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:51 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2012 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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