Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2012

EF0 tornado, Hanover, Virginia, June 1, 2012

This EF0 tornado ran 1.8 miles across Hanover County on June 1, 2012, touching down at 7:17 PM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
June 1, 2012
Touchdown
7:17 PM EDT (23:17 UTC)
Lifted
7:20 PM EDT (23:20 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
1.8 miles (2.9 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Hanover County
Touchdown point
37.790, -77.400
Lift-off point
37.780, -77.370
Record number
1206011717-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Scattered severe thunderstorms in advance of a cold front produced damaging winds, large hail and several tornadoes across portions of central and eastern Virginia.

A brief tornado touched down just west of Highway 301 tracking southeast. The tornado knocked down numerous trees blocking roads including Highway 301.

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

The warnings

8 minutes of warning. NWS AKQ issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:09 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:28 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:52 UTC and running to 00:03 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:52 UTC00:03 UTCTornado WatchAKQ
21:27 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
21:44 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
22:22 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningAKQ
23:09 UTC23:28 UTCTornado WarningAKQ
00:03 UTC04:09 UTCTornado WatchAKQ

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:02 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.

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), 12:00Z

11.3 hours before the tornado, 130 km from the path. June 1, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 26 joules per kilogram, CIN -174, lifted condensation level 1061 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-06-01The 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 148 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 32 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Surface CAPE
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1061 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), 00:00Z

0.7 hours after it, 130 km from the path. June 2, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2012-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 497 joules per kilogram, CIN -25, lifted condensation level 621 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2012-06-02The 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 289 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
497 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Surface CAPE
401 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
621 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
289 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
334 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:18 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
21:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S CookstownSpotsylvania, VALARGE TREES UPROOTED
21:35 UTCHAIL 1Georges TavernGoochland, VASTRONG WIND OF AT LEAST 50 MPH ALSO REPORTED
22:33 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDCentervilleGoochland, VATRAINED SPOTTER CHASING A DESCENDING FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR JUDES FERRY ROAD EAST OF CENTERVILLE.
23:00 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 Nnw GwathmeyHanover, VAFIRE CREWS REPORTED A LOW HANGING FUNNEL CLOUD SOUTH OF ASHLAND.
23:16 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 E AshlandHanover, VAFUNNEL CLOUD WITH RAPID ROTATION EXTENDING FROM THE CLOUD BASE TO THE TREE LINE NEAR ROUTE 54.
23:17 UTCTORNADO5 Ene AshlandCaroline, VASPOTTER REPORT OF TORNADO ON THE GROUND
23:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw AylettKing William, VATREES DOWN ON ACQUINSON CHURCH ROAD

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 June 1, 2012

25 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 12:29 PM EDTEF0Montgomery, MD0.6150$5,000
June 12:37 PM EDTEF0Montgomery, MD0.650$5,000
June 12:48 PM EDTEF0Carroll, MD0.4100$5,000
June 12:52 PM EDTEF1Howard, MD2.1200$5,000
June 13:09 PM EDTEF0Montgomery, MD0.575$50,000
June 13:21 PM EDTEF1Carroll, MD2.9150$200,000
June 14:29 PM EDTEF0Howard, MD1.6150$100,000
June 14:32 PM EDTEF0York, PA0.025$25,000
June 15:13 PM EDTEF0Okeechobee, FL0.920
June 15:18 PM EDTEF0Pasquotank, NC0.650
June 15:25 PM EDTEF1Westmoreland, PA4.8300$3.0 million
June 15:27 PM EDTEF0Prince George's, MD0.950$2,000
June 15:46 PM EDTEF0Anne Arundel, MD0.175$3,000
June 15:56 PM EDTEF1Harford, MD1.23002$300,000
June 16:18 PM EDTEF0Bedford, PA1.575$25,000
June 15:27 PM CDTEF0Brown, SD0.510
June 16:31 PM EDTEF1Allegany, MD1.1175$2,000
June 17:02 PM EDTEF0City of Petersburg, VA3.01505$175,000
June 17:06 PM EDTEF0Anne Arundel, MD6.6100$100,000
June 18:13 PM EDTEF1City of Hampton, VA3.2500$1.0 million
June 18:30 PM EDTEF0Queen Anne's, MD5.050$100,000
June 17:59 PM CDTEF0Clark, SD2.420
June 19:08 PM EDTEF0Northampton, VA0.775$3,000
June 18:48 PM CDTEF0Clark, SD0.510
June 19:14 PM CDTEF0Clark, SD0.610

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.