Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2012
EF0 tornado, Malvern, Alabama, March 23, 2012
This EF0 tornado ran 1.7 miles across Geneva County on March 23, 2012, touching down at 12:48 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 of property damage.
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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- March 23, 2012
- Touchdown
- 12:48 PM CDT (17:48 UTC)
- Lifted
- 12:51 PM CDT (17:51 UTC)
- On the ground
- 3 minutes
- Path length
- 1.7 miles (2.7 km)
- Path width
- 25 yards (23 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $25,000
- County
- Geneva County
- Touchdown point
- 31.150, -85.559
- Lift-off point
- 31.163, -85.535
- Record number
- 1203231148-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong upper level low coupled with moderate wind shear aided in the development of a few strong to severe storms across the tri-state area. The severe storms remained across southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia with one weak tornado occurring in Geneva county, AL. Lightning also struck Samson High School in Geneva county, causing damage.
A weak tornado touched down near the intersection of County Road 73 and Scott Road, knocking down a few trees in this location. This tornado continued northeastward a short distance where a few houses experienced minor roof damage near 1984 N County Road 49. The tornado then lifted shortly afterwards. The damage was consistent was an EF0 tornado with maximum winds around 80 mph. Monetary damage was estimated.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16:19 UTC | 16:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
| 17:49 UTC | 18:07 UTC | Tornado Warning | TAE |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:26 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:30 UTC | LIGHTNING | Nnw Samson | Geneva, AL | LIGHTNING STRUCK SAMSON HIGH SCHOOL BURNING A HOLE IN THE WALL OF THE GYM. |
| 17:49 UTC | TORNADO | 14 Sw Dothan | Geneva, AL | 911 CALL CENTER HAD REPORTS OF HOUSES WITH MINOR DAMAGE AND ROOFS DAMAGED AT/NEAR 1984 N COUNTY RD 49. TREES DOWN NEAR INTERSECTION OF COUNTY RD 73 AND SCOTT RD. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2012 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of March 23, 2012
13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 23 | 9:26 AM CDT | EF1 | Pike, AL | 1.7 | 700 | |||
| March 23 | 11:33 AM CDT | EF0 | Cape Girardeau, MO | 0.3 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| March 23 | 11:38 AM CDT | EF1 | Cape Girardeau, MO | 0.6 | 300 | |||
| March 23 | 12:14 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, IL | 1.8 | 50 | |||
| March 23 | 12:24 PM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, IL | 7.5 | 125 | $75,000 | ||
| March 23 | 1:26 PM CDT | EF2 | Jefferson, IL | 2.6 | 100 | 1 | 2 | $150,000 |
| March 23 | 1:57 PM CDT | EF0 | Marion, IL | 0.0 | 10 | |||
| March 23 | 3:07 PM EDT | EF1 | Jefferson, KY | 2.4 | 70 | $300,000 | ||
| March 23 | 3:20 PM EDT | EF0 | Early, GA | 3.5 | 25 | $5,000 | ||
| March 23 | 3:28 PM EDT | EF1 | Shelby, KY | 2.2 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| March 23 | 4:30 PM EDT | EF0 | Switzerland, IN | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| March 23 | 7:50 PM EDT | EF0 | Clinton, OH | 0.4 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| March 23 | 8:30 PM EDT | EF0 | Warren, OH | 0.4 | 50 | $20,000 |
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.