EF3 tornado, Grants Lick to Wiggonsville, Kentucky, March 2, 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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

March 2, 2012

Touchdown

4:39 PM EST (21:39 UTC)

Lifted

5:02 PM EST (22:02 UTC)

On the ground

23 minutes

Path length

20.4 miles (32.8 km)

Path width

440 yards (402 m)

Deaths

3

Injuries

13

Property damage

$9.2 million

Counties

Campbell, Pendleton, Clermont and Brown counties

Touchdown point

38.835, -84.353

Lift-off point

38.898, -83.986

Record number

1203021539-04

Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon in a high wind shear environment ahead of a strengthening low pressure system. Many of these storms became severe, with large hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornadoes all being the main threats. Isolated flooding also became possible due to the intense rainfall.

Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon in a high wind shear environment ahead of a strengthening low pressure system. Many of these storms became severe, with large hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornadoes all being the main threats.

The tornado initially touched down in south central Campbell County at 1639 EST near Peach Grove Road and crossed Fisher Road northwest of Peach Grove. The tornado then crossed into Pendleton County at 1641 EST after producing high end EF3 damage along Reid Ridge Road near the Campbell and Pendleton County line. The tornado then moved across Mays Road producing significant and widespread EF2 to low end EF3 damage. The tornado then crossed AA highway and eventually the Ohio River, after crossing Kentucky Highway 8. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum wind speed of the tornado was estimated to be 160 miles per hour in Campbell County and 140 miles per hour in Pendleton County. The tornado traveled a total of 2.68 miles in Campbell County, and 4 miles in Pendleton County. The tornado then moved into Clermont County Ohio at 1646 EST, where it hit the town of Moscow, causing EF3 damage. The tornado continued on the ground across Clermont County, crossing into Brown County at 1658 EST. The tornado then lifted south of Hamersville in western Brown County at 1702 EST. This tornado caused extensive damage to structures and trees along its entire path on both sides of the Ohio River. Numerous homes were very heavily damaged or destroyed. Many homes lost their roofs, having complete exterior wall failure. Some modular homes were completely removed from their foundations, lifted, and thrown in excess of 100 yards where they were destroyed. The damage in Ohio from this tornado was consistent with maximum winds estimated at 160 miles per hour in Clermont County, and 100 miles per hour in Brown County. The tornado traveled a total of 11.04 miles in Clermont County, and 2.69 miles in Brown County.

The tornado initially touched down in south central Campbell County at 1639 EST near Peach Grove Road and crossed Fisher Road northwest of Peach Grove. The tornado then crossed into Pendleton County at 1641 EST after producing high end EF3 damage along Reid Ridge Road near the Campbell and Pendleton County line. The tornado then moved across Mays Road producing significant and widespread EF2 to low end EF3 damage. The tornado then crossed AA highway and eventually the Ohio River, after crossing Kentucky Highway 8. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum wind speed of the tornado was estimated to be 160 miles per hour in Campbell County and 140 miles per hour in Pendleton County. The tornado traveled a total of 2.68 miles in Campbell County, and 4 miles in Pendleton County. The tornado moved into Clermont County Ohio at 1646 EST, where it hit the town of Moscow, causing EF3 damage. The tornado continued on the ground across Clermont County, crossing into Brown County at 1658 EST. The tornado then lifted south of Hamersville in western Brown County at 1702 EST. This tornado caused extensive damage to structures and trees along its entire path on both sides of the Ohio River. Numerous homes were very heavily damaged or destroyed. Many homes lost their roofs, having complete exterior wall failure. Some modular homes were completely removed from their foundations, lifted, and thrown in excess of 100 yards where they were destroyed. The damage in Ohio from this tornado was consistent with maximum winds estimated at 160 miles per hour in Clermont County, and 100 miles per hour in Brown County. The tornado traveled a total of 11.04 miles in Clermont County, and 2.69 miles in Brown County.

The tornado initially touched down in south central Campbell County at 1639 EST near Peach Grove Road and crossed Fisher Road northwest of Peach Grove. The tornado then crossed into Pendleton County at 1641 EST after producing high end EF3 damage along Reid Ridge Road near the Campbell and Pendleton County line. The tornado then moved across Mays Road producing significant and widespread EF2 to low end EF3 damage. The tornado then crossed AA highway and eventually the Ohio River, after crossing Kentucky Highway 8. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum wind speed of the tornado was estimated to be 160 miles per hour in Campbell County and 140 miles per hour in Pendleton County. The tornado traveled a total of 2.68 miles in Campbell County, and 4 miles in Pendleton County. The tornado then moved into Clermont County Ohio at 1646 EST, where it hit the town of Moscow, causing EF3 damage. The tornado continued on the ground across Clermont County, crossing into Brown County at 1658 EST. The tornado then lifted south of Hamersville in western Brown County at 1702 EST. This tornado caused extensive damage to structures and trees along its entire path on both sides of the Ohio River. Numerous homes were very heavily damaged or destroyed. Many homes lost their roofs, having complete exterior wall failure. Some modular homes were completely removed from their foundations, lifted, and thrown in excess of 100 yards where they were destroyed. The damage in Ohio from this tornado was consistent with maximum winds estimated at 160 miles per hour in Clermont County, and 100 miles per hour in Brown County. The tornado traveled a total of 11.04 miles in Clermont County, and 2.69 miles in Brown County.

The deaths

3 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:18 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:05 UTC and running to 23:01 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 High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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 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.

Cincinnat/Lunken (LUK), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:37 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 KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

69 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 70 of them

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.