Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2012

EF2 tornado, Metropolis Muni Arpt, Illinois, February 29, 2012

This EF2 tornado ran 2.4 miles across Massac County on February 29, 2012, touching down at 5:35 AM CST and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF2
Date
February 29, 2012
Touchdown
5:35 AM CST (11:35 UTC)
Lifted
5:39 AM CST (11:39 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
2.4 miles (3.8 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Massac County
Touchdown point
37.173, -88.785
Lift-off point
37.183, -88.743
Record number
1202290535-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A squall line with embedded sustained supercells crossed southern Illinois. The embedded supercells raced east-northeast at 60 to 70 mph, while the line moved southeast at a slower rate. The storms strengthened as they encountered richer low-level moisture, with surface dew points around 60 degrees spreading rapidly north-northeastward up the Mississippi Valley. Intense low to mid-level wind fields maintained the intensity of tornadic storms despite weak instability due to lack of solar heating. A south-southwesterly low level jet from 60 to 70 knots veered to west-southwest around 75 knots at 500 mb.

The tornado crossed the Ohio River from McCracken County, Kentucky. The tornado crossed U.S. Highway 45 before it lifted near the airport. Trees were uprooted and snapped. Barns and sheds were damaged or destroyed. The average path width was 125 yards. Peak winds were estimated near 120 mph.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 07:15 UTC and running to 13:55 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
07:15 UTC13:55 UTCTornado WatchPAH
11:14 UTC11:34 UTCTornado WarningPAH
11:50 UTC12:06 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
13:01 UTC13:22 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:51 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 air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z

11.6 hours before the tornado, 225 km from the path. February 29, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2012-02-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -73247, lifted condensation level 1873 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2012-02-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73247 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1873 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
309 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z

0.4 hours after it, 225 km from the path. February 29, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2012-02-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 580 joules per kilogram, CIN -25, lifted condensation level 510 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2012-02-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 365 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 61 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
580 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Surface CAPE
456 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
510 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
365 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
485 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
8.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Metropolis IL (M30), 1 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
09:35 UTC67.2862.6200° 16 kt261008.8
09:55 UTC6862.24200° 16 kt241009.1
10:15 UTC68.5462.24200° 13 kt271008.8
10:35 UTC68.5462210° 15 kt241008.8
10:55 UTC69.2661.7200° 15 kt241008.1
11:15 UTC6961.52190° 11 kt231007.8TS
11:35 UTC6459.36260° 12 kt731009.5TSRA
12:15 UTC60.857.74230° 12 kt181009.8-RA
12:35 UTC60.6256.48230° 13 kt201009.5RA
12:55 UTC6052.88230° 8 kt1008.8
13:15 UTC6053.6260° 5 kt1008.8

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 12 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:33 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
10:40 UTCHAIL 0.756 S MarionWilliamson, ILDIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED SOUTH OF MARION ILLINOIS.
11:00 UTCTORNADOMoundsPulaski, ILTHE EF2 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST SW OF MOUNDS ILLINOIS AND MOVED ENE THROUGH MOUNDS AND CROSSED I-57 NEAR EXIT 8. THE TORNADO CROSSED THE OHIO RIVER NEAR THE TOWN OF AMERICA. IT MOVED ACROSS N. BALLARD AND MCCRACKEN COU
11:03 UTCTSTM WND DMGMoundsPulaski, ILPOSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE NORTH AND WEST OF MOUNDS AND NEAR EXIT 8 ALONG INTERSTATE 57. SPOTTER HAD A CROSS ARM RIPPED OFF A RAILROAD SIGN AND MISSLED THROUGH HIS VEHCILE.
11:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 60Round KnobMassac, IL60 PLUS MPH WINDS REPORTED AND DIME SIZE HAIL
11:35 UTCTORNADOMetropolisMassac, ILOFFICE OF EM REPORTING TORNADO NEAR METROPOLIS ILLINOIS. SEEING POWER FLASHES FROM TRANSFORMERS ALSO.

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 IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 29, 2012

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 2912:18 AM CSTEF1Laclede, MO11.01505$750,000
February 2912:22 AM CSTEF1Laclede, MO0.375$500,000
February 2912:42 AM CSTEF2Barry, MO1.740014$575,000
February 291:06 AM CSTEF1Phelps, MO18.075
February 291:13 AM CSTEF2Stone, MO24.340047$21 million
February 292:55 AM CSTEF2Madison, MO31.98001$100,000
February 293:34 AM CSTEF2Bollinger, MO7.7120$170,000
February 293:47 AM CSTEF2Cape Girardeau, MO to IL31.93001$350,000
February 294:00 AM CSTEF3Stoddard, MO20.07001$150,000
February 294:24 AM CSTEF1Scott, MO15.775$250,000
February 294:26 AM CSTEF2Williamson, IL14.9300$100,000
February 294:51 AM CSTEF4Harrisburg–Ridgway tornado, IL26.13258108$3.0 million
February 295:00 AM CSTEF2Pulaski, IL to KY22.71505$250,000
February 295:57 AM CSTEF1Henderson, KY1.31502$80,000
February 296:03 AM CSTEF1Warrick, IN2.4150$250,000
February 296:40 AM CSTEF0Hopkins, KY0.530$10,000
February 298:45 AM CSTEF1Muhlenberg, KY0.130$30,000
February 298:45 AM CSTEF2Muhlenberg, KY5.52001$100,000
February 299:55 AM ESTEF2Hardin, KY5.0250$200,000
February 299:42 AM CSTEF2Grayson, KY2.02001$50,000
February 2911:05 AM ESTEF2Larue, KY2.5200$200,000
February 2911:12 AM ESTEF2Larue, KY0.9100$20,000
February 291:42 PM ESTEF2Morgan, KY6.3400$100,000
February 2912:47 PM CSTEF1Metcalfe, KY1.0150$10,000
February 291:22 PM CSTEF2Russell, KY7.2150$210,000
February 292:53 PM ESTEF1Pulaski, KY1.560$50,000
February 293:46 PM CSTEF1DeKalb, TN14.83001$700,000
February 294:02 PM CSTEF0White, TN2.250$10,000
February 294:30 PM CSTEF2Cumberland, TN11.11,00027$1.0 million
February 297:30 PM ESTEF0Blount, TN0.8100$25,000
February 2912:32 AM ESTEF0Washington, VA0.670$50,000

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.