Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana · 2012
EF0 tornado, Kolin, Louisiana, January 25, 2012
This EF0 tornado ran 1.4 miles across Rapides Parish on January 25, 2012, touching down at 3:52 PM CST and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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
- January 25, 2012
- Touchdown
- 3:52 PM CST (21:52 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:54 PM CST (21:54 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 1.4 miles (2.2 km)
- Path width
- 25 yards (23 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- County
- Rapides Parish
- Touchdown point
- 31.270, -92.330
- Lift-off point
- 31.274, -92.308
- Record number
- 1201251552-01
What the Weather Service recorded
As a cold front and associated surface low pressure area moved across the region, several tornadoes were reported across central and southwest Louisiana.
A tornado touched down along Palmer Chapel Road, blowing down trees. It dissipated near the Ruby-Wise School on LA Highway 107 where it damaged part of a roof at the school.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
28 minutes of warning. NWS LCH issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:24 UTC, 28 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:13 UTC and running to 01:49 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14:47 UTC | 20:13 UTC | Tornado Watch | LCH |
| 20:13 UTC | 01:49 UTC | Tornado Watch | LCH |
| 20:28 UTC | 21:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | LCH |
| 20:56 UTC | 21:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | LCH |
| 21:24 UTC | 22:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | LCH |
| 21:30 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH |
| 21:55 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | LCH |
| 22:36 UTC | 23:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH |
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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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.
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), 12:00Z
9.9 hours before the tornado, 153 km from the path. January 25, 2012.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 28 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -201 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 398 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 576 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 241 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 341 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.3 K/km
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:43 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 W Colfax | Natchitoches, LA | METAL ROOF PARTIALLY BLOWN OFF A HOUSE AT MARCO LA |
| 20:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Nne Flatwoods | Natchitoches, LA | SUV BLOWN OFF INTERSTATE 49 NEAR MILE MARKER 113. |
| 21:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 E Hineston | Rapides, LA | *** 1 INJ *** RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS AN INJURY ASSOCIATED WITH A A TREE FALLING ON A VEHICLE ON HWY 112 AND L. WARREN RD. |
| 21:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 E Hineston | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS A TREE DOWN ON A PATIO IN THE 8400 BLOCK OF TWIN BRIDGES RD. |
| 21:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Sw Boyce | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN ALONG VANZANT AND BATHOUSE ROADS. |
| 21:13 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 5 Sw Boyce | Rapides, LA | EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR COTILE LAKE ON VANZART AND BATH HOUSE ROADS...BEFORE DISSIPATING NEAR LA HWY 1200. MANY TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED IN HALF. PATH LENGTH WAS 0.8 MILE AND PATH WIDTH WAS 20 YARDS. |
| 21:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 W Gardner | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS POWER LINES DOWN ALONG THE 1800 BLOCK OF CLIFTON RD IN THE FLATWOODS COMMUNITY. |
| 21:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 N Alexandria | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS TREES DOWN ON MOSS POINT DRIVE AND LA HIGHWAY 1 N. |
| 21:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 E Hineston | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN ALONG HARPER RD AND HWY 112 |
| 21:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 N Pineville | Grant, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS TREES DOWN IN THE 6900 BLOCK OF SHREVEPORT HIGHWAY NEAR MARY GOFF SCHOOL IN THE TIOGA COMMUNITY |
| 21:35 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 2 E Hineston | Rapides, LA | EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR HARPER ROAD...BEFORE CROSSING LA HWY 112 AND DISSIPATING ALONG TWIN BRIDGES ROAD. SEVERAL TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED IN HALF...AND ONE DAMAGED A PATIO. PATH LENGTH WAS 1.5 MILES AND PA |
| 21:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Ball | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS A TREE DOWN ON A HOUSE IN THE 6100 BLOCK OF MCRAY DRIVE IN THE BALL COMMUNITY. |
| 21:58 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 Se Alexandria | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS A BLOWN TRANSFORMER IN THE 700 BLOCK OF PALMER CHAPEL RD OFF OF LA 107 IN THE RUBY WISE COMMUNITY. |
| 22:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 Se Alexandria | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS TREES DOWN ALONG PALMER CHAPEL ROAD IN THE RUBY WISE COMMUNITY OFF OF LA 107. |
| 22:06 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 1 Sw Kolin | Rapides, LA | AN EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG PALMER CHAPEL ROAD...BLOWING SEVERAL TREES DOWN. IT DISSIPATED NEAR THE RUBY-WISE SCHOOL ON LA HWY 107 WHERE IT DAMAGED PART OF A ROOF AT THE SCHOOL. PATH LENGTH WAS 1.5 MILES AND PATH W |
| 22:15 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Deville | Rapides, LA | LAW ENFORCEMENT RELAYED A PUBLIC REPORT OF A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR DEVILLE MOVING EASTWARD. |
| 22:19 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 7 Se Alexandria | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS THE ROOF BLOWN OFF ONE OF THE BUILDINGS OF RUBY-WISE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN THE 5200 BLOCK OF OLD MARKSVILLE HIGHWAY AND LA 107. |
| 22:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 S Deville | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS A TREE DOWN ON A GARAGE AND VEHICLE |
| 23:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 Se Alexandria | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS TREES DOWN ON POWERLINES ON FLETCHER AND BRANNON ROADS. |
| 23:19 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Ball | Rapides, LA | RAPIDES SHERIFF REPORTS A TRANSFORMER ON FIRE ALONG HWY 1204 IN THE BALL COMMUNITY. |
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 LouisianaEvery tornado in Louisiana since 1950Warnings in force in Louisiana nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of January 25, 2012
24 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 25 | 2:58 AM CST | EF1 | Travis, TX | 1.1 | 50 | |||
| January 25 | 4:15 AM CST | EF0 | Bexar, TX | 0.3 | 30 | |||
| January 25 | 5:30 AM CST | EF0 | Bastrop, TX | 2.9 | 30 | $5,000 | ||
| January 25 | 6:43 AM CST | EF1 | Burleson, TX | 2.3 | 50 | $200,000 | ||
| January 25 | 7:17 AM CST | EF0 | Washington, TX | 2.1 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| January 25 | 8:00 AM CST | EF0 | Madison, TX | 0.5 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| January 25 | 9:06 AM CST | EF0 | Walker, TX | 0.4 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| January 25 | 9:09 AM CST | EF0 | Walker, TX | 0.2 | 25 | $30,000 | ||
| January 25 | 10:32 AM CST | EF1 | Rusk, TX | 1.5 | 175 | 1 | $100,000 | |
| January 25 | 10:47 AM CST | EF0 | Rusk, TX | 6.5 | 100 | |||
| January 25 | 12:05 PM CST | EF0 | Brazoria, TX | 0.2 | 75 | $15,000 | ||
| January 25 | 12:10 PM CST | EF0 | Hardin, TX | 2.5 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| January 25 | 12:28 PM CST | EF0 | Tyler, TX | 0.4 | 10 | $20,000 | ||
| January 25 | 12:45 PM CST | EF0 | Jasper, TX | 1.0 | 20 | $5,000 | ||
| January 25 | 12:57 PM CST | EF1 | Jasper, TX | 1.6 | 25 | $50,000 | ||
| January 25 | 1:33 PM CST | EF0 | Vernon Parish, LA | 3.1 | 25 | $20,000 | ||
| January 25 | 2:01 PM CST | EF0 | Sabine Parish, LA | 2.3 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| January 25 | 2:14 PM CST | EF0 | Vernon Parish, LA | 1.6 | 40 | $20,000 | ||
| January 25 | 3:02 PM CST | EF0 | Rapides Parish, LA | 1.8 | 20 | $50,000 | ||
| January 25 | 3:15 PM CST | EF0 | Rapides Parish, LA | 0.9 | 20 | $40,000 | ||
| January 25 | 4:27 PM CST | EF1 | Calcasieu Parish, LA | 5.8 | 25 | $100,000 | ||
| January 25 | 6:21 PM CST | EF0 | Cameron Parish, LA | 0.1 | 10 | $10,000 | ||
| January 25 | 6:49 PM CST | EF1 | Copiah, MS | 3.1 | 350 | $10,000 | ||
| January 25 | 7:58 PM CST | EF0 | Lafayette Parish, LA | 0.1 | 10 | $75,000 |
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.