EF2 tornado, Mertz to Magazine, 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

4:54 PM CST (22:54 UTC)

Lifted

5:05 PM CST (23:05 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

5.2 miles (8.3 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.4 million

County

Mobile County

Touchdown point

30.670, -88.090

Lift-off point

30.740, -88.060

Record number

1212251654-01

21 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 132 mph.

• Concrete Masonry Unit fence blown down.

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 initial tornado touchdown was located near|Dauphin Island Parkway...Duval Street and Halls Mill Road...where it|initially moved northwestward. The tornado continued northward to|near the intersections of Holcomb Avenue...Government Street and|Dauphin Island Parkway where it produced damage consistent with an|EF-1 tornado...damaging several commercial retailers. The tornado|continued northward...damaging homes and producing roof damage to|numerous homes. It then reached Murphy High School...where it|destroyed several out-buildings...blew out windows and produced|significant roof damage to the high school. From here...The tornado|tracked northward to Dauphin Street where it strengthened and widened|to 200 yards producing damage consistent with an EF-2 tornado to|several homes. Also significantly damaged was the Trinity Episcopal|Church on Dauphin Street. The tornado then moved into the Silverwood|Street area where it produced EF-1 damage and sporadic EF-2 damage to|several homes. The tornado next tracked north northeast across the|Mobile Infirmary Hospital ...where it blew out several windows and|damaged several automobiles...as well as flipping one automobile. The|tornado continued tracking northeastward across interstate 165 moving|into the Prichard area where it produced damage to the roofs of|several homes...as well as snapping several trees. The tornado|continued across Telegraph Road where it tossed several large|shipping containers and damaged a warehouse facility before|dissipating on Jakes Lane in Prichard.

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

10 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:44 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:39 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), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:54 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.