Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2012

EF0 tornado, Haskell, Virginia, February 29, 2012

This EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Washington County on February 29, 2012, touching down at 12:32 AM EST and reaching 70 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 mphthis tornado

    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 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
EF0
Date
February 29, 2012
Touchdown
12:32 AM EST (05:32 UTC)
Lifted
12:33 AM EST (05:33 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
70 yards (64 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Washington County
Touchdown point
36.630, -82.216
Lift-off point
36.630, -82.206
Record number
1202292332-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A low level jet developed in advance of a cold front moving across the Southern Appalachian Mountains during the early morning hours. Isolated severe convection developed resulting in wind damage.

This small tornado developed in the Combs Valley area from a supercell moving to the east through southwest Virginia. The tornado started on a hill crossed much of a farm, downed some trees and causing damage to several farm buildings. The tornado dissipated while on this same farm.

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

The warnings

20 minutes of warning. NWS MRX issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:12 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:00 UTC01:19 UTCTornado WatchMRX
23:29 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WarningMRX
05:12 UTC05:45 UTCTornado WarningMRX
06:16 UTC08:15 UTCFlood AdvisoryMRX

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 00:55 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.

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 00:00Z

5.5 hours before the tornado, 216 km from the path. March 1, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2012-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 62 joules per kilogram, CIN -165, lifted condensation level 686 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2012-03-01The 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 271 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 55 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
62 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-165 J/kg
Surface CAPE
29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
686 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 12:00Z

6.5 hours after it, 216 km from the path. March 1, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2012-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 197 joules per kilogram, CIN -80, lifted condensation level 806 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2012-03-01The 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 135 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
197 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Surface CAPE
167 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
806 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:31 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
05:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W Gate CityScott, VATREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.
05:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W Gate CityScott, VAPOSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE IN GATE CITY. A FEW TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. A SMALL STORAGE SHED WAS BLOWN INTO THE ROAD AT BENTON DR AND STARNES ST. A PORCH COLLAPSED THAT WAS ATTACHED TO THE BACK OF A MOBILE HOME ON DANIEL
05:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGGate CityScott, VAPOSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE IN GATE CITY. A FEW TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. A SMALL STORAGE SHED WAS DESTROYED AND A MOBILE HOME ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF.
05:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGGate CityScott, VASEVERAL TREES DOWN.

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 VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia 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 295:35 AM CSTEF2Massac, IL2.4150$50,000
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

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.