2012 tornadoes in Mississippi

51 tornadoes touched down in Mississippi in 2012, 36 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2011 2013 The whole country in 2012

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 mph
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.

Every tornado in Mississippi in 2012

January 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 17	4:02 PM CST	EF2	Marion	2.8	440		2	$250,000

January 22 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 22	10:34 PM CST	EF2	Bolivar	3.4	332		1	$700,000
January 22	11:00 PM CST	EF0	Quitman	0.3	75			$50,000

January 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 25	6:49 PM CST	EF1	Copiah	3.1	350			$10,000

January 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 26	6:44 AM CST	EF0	Pearl River	0.1	100			$10,000

February 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 1	8:14 PM CST	EF0	Monroe	0.1	25			$25,000

March 2 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 2	6:23 PM CST	EF1	Lamar	11.9	300	$400,000
March 2	6:42 PM CST	EF1	Forrest	3.0	300	$15,000
March 2	11:47 PM CST	EF0	Jefferson Davis	0.3	50	$60,000

March 21 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 21	10:23 AM CDT	EF1	Jefferson	2.7	176	$20,000
March 21	10:51 AM CDT	EF2	Claiborne	9.2	880	$250,000
March 21	11:11 AM CDT	EF1	Warren	1.9	100	$250,000
March 21	2:04 PM CDT	EF2	Rankin	6.2	75	$150,000
March 21	4:00 PM CDT	EF0	Forrest	0.4	264	$20,000
March 21	5:31 PM CDT	EF0	Jones	0.0	75	$25,000
March 21	8:32 PM CDT	EF0	Harrison	0.3	50	$5,000
March 21	9:03 PM CDT	EF0	Jasper	0.5	75	$10,000
March 21	12:35 AM CDT	EF1	Harrison	1.0	100	$15,000

March 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 22	5:10 AM CDT	EF0	Harrison	4.1	100			$10,000

August 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 9	4:07 PM CDT	EF0	Walthall	0.3	170			$30,000

August 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 19	6:45 PM CDT	EF0	Rankin	0.1	30

August 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 29	5:18 PM CDT	EF1	Harrison	0.5	25			$25,000
August 29	7:14 PM CDT	EF1	Jackson	0.4	40			$40,000

August 30 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
August 30	7:10 AM CDT	EF2	Jackson	0.8	40		$75,000
August 30	9:49 AM CDT	EF1	Clarke	6.1	100	3	$100,000
August 30	10:18 AM CDT	EF1	Lauderdale	1.4	100		$70,000

September 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 30	3:20 PM CDT	EF1	Hancock	6.1	40			$30,000
September 30	4:19 PM CDT	EF1	Stone	2.2	100			$60,000

October 17 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
October 17	9:07 PM CDT	EF2	Bolivar	1.3	150		$200,000
October 17	10:12 PM CDT	EF1	Grenada	0.5	75		$50,000
October 17	10:40 PM CDT	EF2	Sharkey	4.3	440	4	$250,000
October 17	10:46 PM CDT	EF1	Humphreys	1.5	100		$40,000
October 17	10:56 PM CDT	EF1	Humphreys	1.9	100		$50,000
October 17	11:29 PM CDT	EF1	Yazoo	1.9	250		$10,000
October 17	12:11 AM CDT	EF1	Leake	0.7	525		$50,000
October 17	12:32 AM CDT	EF1	Leake	0.8	150		$400,000
October 17	12:46 AM CDT	EF3	Scott	7.6	880	1	$1.5 million
October 17	12:58 AM CDT	EF3	Newton	6.8	880		$1.0 million

October 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 18	1:01 AM CDT	EF1	Hinds	0.7	50			$35,000
October 18	1:12 AM CDT	EF1	Neshoba	0.6	150			$100,000

December 9 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
December 9	3:50 PM CST	EF0	Pearl River	2.5	20	$10,000
December 9	4:15 PM CST	EF0	Lamar	0.1	50	$8,000
December 9	5:20 PM CST	EF0	Jones	0.1	50	$1,000

December 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 10	7:52 AM CST	EF1	Walthall	19.2	100			$140,000

December 25 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
December 25	2:31 PM CST	EF1	Wilkinson	2.8	250	1	$250,000
December 25	3:20 PM CST	EF3	Pearl River	24.1	175	8	$2.5 million
December 25	3:35 PM CST	EF2	Lawrence	8.4	440	7	$200,000
December 25	3:45 PM CST	EF2	Stone	8.0	100
December 25	3:55 PM CST	EF2	Forrest	28.6	300	4	$200,000
December 25	4:09 PM CST	EF1	Jones	1.2	100		$50,000
December 25	4:35 PM CST	EF0	Lauderdale	2.3	50		$55,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Mississippi since 1950 Warnings in force in Mississippi The live radar over Mississippi

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.