Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2012

EF1 tornado, Sellers, Mississippi, September 30, 2012

This EF1 tornado ran 6.1 miles across Hancock County on September 30, 2012, touching down at 3:20 PM CDT and reaching 40 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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 mphthis tornado

    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 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
EF1
Date
September 30, 2012
Touchdown
3:20 PM CDT (20:20 UTC)
Lifted
3:34 PM CDT (20:34 UTC)
On the ground
14 minutes
Path length
6.1 miles (9.8 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Hancock County
Touchdown point
30.543, -89.479
Lift-off point
30.607, -89.409
Record number
1209301420-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Low pressure near Houston, Texas moved into central Mississippi during the daytime hours. A few thunderstorms reached severe limits, including 2 tornadoes.

A weak tornado touched down along an intermittent track from the Cypress Lake area northeastward to just southwest of the community of Necaise. A few homes had minor roof damage, one home was shifted off its foundation. One home had a portion of siding roof peeled off, and a few trees were snapped or blown down. Most of the damage path was rated as WF0 with an isolated area of EF1 damage. Path length was 6 miles, path width 40 yards. Maximum winds were approximately 100 mph. Time of event was based on radar.

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

The warnings

5 minutes of warning. NWS LIX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:15 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:36 UTC and running to 22:53 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:36 UTC22:53 UTCTornado WatchLIX
19:48 UTC20:15 UTCTornado WarningLIX
20:15 UTC20:45 UTCTornado WarningLIX
20:26 UTC20:48 UTCTornado WarningLIX
22:37 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningLIX
22:53 UTC00:52 UTCTornado WatchLIX

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 19:50 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.

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), 12:00Z

8.3 hours before the tornado, 44 km from the path. September 30, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-09-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1360 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 552 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-09-30The 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 105 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1360 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1517 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), 00:00Z

3.7 hours after it, 44 km from the path. October 1, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 2012-10-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1860 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 486 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 2012-10-01The 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 235 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1860 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2913 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
486 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
235 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
12.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Bay_st._louis (HSA), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:51 UTC78.875.2170° 11 kt1005.1-RA
19:51 UTC78.877130° 9 kt1003.7TS
21:55 UTC80.677180° 10 kt1002.4

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

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
20:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG15 E PicayuneHancock, MSSTRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO TWO HOMES ON LOBLOLLY DRIVE.
20:20 UTCTORNADO 19 Nnw KilnHancock, MSA WEAK TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG AN INTERMITTENT TRACK FROM THE CYPRESS LAKE AREA NORTHEAST TO JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE COMMUNITY OF NECAISE. A FEW HOMES HAD MINOR ROOF DAMAGE...ONE HOME WAS SHIFTED OFF ITS FOUNDATION...ON
20:34 UTCTORNADO12 Sw SaucierHarrison, MSHARRISON COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT RELAYED REPORTS FROM 911 CALLS OF A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ON CEMETERY ROAD NEAR HIGHWAY 53.
21:25 UTCTORNADOMchenryStone, MSDAMAGE REPORTED ON PINE AVE IN MCHENRY. DETAILS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.

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 MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of September 30, 2012

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 304:19 PM CDTEF1Stone, MS2.2100$60,000
September 305:05 PM CDTEF0Custer, NE0.190

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.