YearFinal SPC data

2012

948 tornadoes in 2012, with 13,385 hail and 16,235 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reports (soon)Storm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

EF0 577 EF1 244 EF2 96 EF3 27 EF4 4

Hail and wind show significant reports only (2 in or larger, 65 kt or stronger). Click a legend item to show or hide it, or "only" to see just that. Select anything on the map to open its record.

Tornadoes by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Hail reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Wind reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Storm days

Every day with a tornado, hail or wind report. Warmer colors mean more tornadoes; gray days had hail or wind only; a white ring marks a day with an F4/EF4 or stronger tornado.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Running count

2012 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

20121991 to 2020 average2007 to 2017 (other years)

948 tornadoes in 2012, 23% below the 1991 to 2020 average of 1,231.

Counts by storm day (12Z to 12Z). Reporting changed a great deal over the decades, so years far from 1991 to 2020 are not a like-for-like comparison with the average.

Busiest tornado days

#	Day	Tornadoes	F/EF4+	Deaths	Strongest	States
1	04/14/12	85	1	6	EF4	IA, KS, NE, OK
2	03/02/12	72	2	41	EF4	AL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MS, NC, OH, SC, TN +2
3	12/25/12	33	0	0	EF3	AL, LA, MS, TX
4	02/28/12	28	1	12	EF4	IL, KS, KY, MO, NE
5	06/01/12	26	0	0	EF1	FL, MD, NC, PA, SD, VA
6	01/22/12	23	0	2	EF3	AL, AR, IL, KY, MS, TN
7	04/30/12	23	0	0	EF2	KS, OK, TX
8	01/25/12	22	0	0	EF1	LA, MS, TX
9	06/24/12	22	0	1	EF2	FL
10	04/03/12	21	0	0	EF3	LA, TX
11	05/10/12	20	0	0	EF2	TX
12	02/29/12	18	0	3	EF2	IN, KY, TN, VA
13	03/21/12	17	0	0	EF2	LA, MS, NC
14	05/01/12	16	0	0	EF1	IA, IL, IN, KY, MN, OH
15	09/01/12	15	0	0	EF2	AR, ID, IL, IN, MO

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/29/12	1,110	0	103	1,007	3.5 in	92 kt (106 mph)
2	07/01/12	1,059	0	382	677	2.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
3	03/02/12	835	72	541	222	4.25 in	75 kt (86 mph)
4	05/29/12	586	5	323	258	5 in	78 kt (90 mph)
5	07/05/12	548	1	78	469	2 in	100 kt (115 mph)
6	07/26/12	487	8	55	424	2 in	87 kt (100 mph)
7	07/18/12	468	2	141	325	3 in	87 kt (100 mph)
8	07/04/12	458	1	184	273	2.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
9	04/14/12	425	85	250	90	4.5 in	84 kt (97 mph)
10	09/07/12	406	1	74	331	2.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
11	05/30/12	393	13	247	133	4.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
12	08/09/12	388	3	127	258	2.75 in	74 kt (85 mph)
13	06/11/12	383	2	56	325	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	06/14/12	350	3	190	157	2.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
15	07/03/12	327	1	94	232	1.75 in	76 kt (87 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/01/12	5 in	Ross County, OH
2	05/29/12	5 in	Canadian County, OK
3	03/30/12	4.5 in	Roger Mills County, OK
4	04/15/12	4.5 in	Riley County, KS
5	04/20/12	4.5 in	Hidalgo County, TX
6	04/28/12	4.5 in	Washington County, IL
7	04/29/12	4.5 in	Hockley County, TX
8	05/27/12	4.5 in	Cedar County, NE
9	05/29/12	4.5 in	Kingfisher County, OK
10	05/30/12	4.5 in	Cottle County, TX
11	05/30/12	4.5 in	Cottle County, TX
12	06/03/12	4.5 in	Lawrence County, AR
13	06/12/12	4.5 in	Curry County, NM
14	06/12/12	4.5 in	Curry County, NM
15	06/12/12	4.5 in	Roosevelt County, NM

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	02/28/12	104 kt	120	Estimated	Crawford County, KS
2	01/22/12	100 kt	115	Estimated	Phillips County, AR
3	07/05/12	100 kt	115	Estimated	Lawrence County, AL
4	02/28/12	96 kt	110	Estimated	Labette County, KS
5	02/29/12	96 kt	110	Estimated	Jackson County, IL
6	07/25/12	96 kt	110	Estimated	Oneida County, NY
7	07/31/12	96 kt	110	Estimated	Gibson County, IN
8	08/03/12	93 kt	107	Measured	Wilkin County, MN
9	06/29/12	92 kt	106	Estimated	Guernsey County, OH
10	01/22/12	91 kt	105	Estimated	Shelby County, TN
11	06/17/12	91 kt	105	Estimated	Big Stone County, MN
12	06/17/12	91 kt	105	Estimated	Big Stone County, MN
13	05/08/12	89 kt	102	Measured	Hidalgo County, TX
14	10/30/12	88 kt	101	Estimated	Plymouth County, MA
15	01/22/12	87 kt	100	Estimated	Phillips County, AR

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/29/12	EF4	Carrier Mills to Ridgway, Illinois	IL	26.1 mi	325 yd	8	108
03/02/12	EF4	Palmyra, IN to Milton, KY	IN, KY	46.6 mi	800 yd	11	0
03/02/12	EF4	Crittenden to Butler, Kentucky	KY	9.9 mi	880 yd	4	8
04/14/12	EF4	Lyons to Bennington, Kansas	KS	50.3 mi	400 yd	0	0

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
03/02/12	EF4	Palmyra, IN to Milton, KY	IN, KY	46.6 mi	800 yd	11	0
03/02/12	EF3	Frenchburg, KY to Chapmanville, WV	KY, WV	85.0 mi	1,580 yd	10	118
02/29/12	EF4	Carrier Mills to Ridgway, Illinois	IL	26.1 mi	325 yd	8	108
03/02/12	EF2	London, Kentucky	KY	7.2 mi	310 yd	6	40
04/14/12	EF3	Arnett to Woodward, Oklahoma	OK	34.0 mi	400 yd	6	29
03/02/12	EF4	Crittenden to Butler, Kentucky	KY	9.9 mi	880 yd	4	8
03/02/12	EF3	Holton to Osgood, Indiana	IN	8.7 mi	350 yd	3	5
03/02/12	EF3	Butler, KY to Hamersville, OH	KY, OH	20.4 mi	440 yd	3	13
06/04/12	EF2	Bertrand, Missouri	MO	0.5 mi	75 yd	3	0
02/29/12	EF2	Pleasant Hill to Crossville, Tennessee	TN	11.1 mi	1,000 yd	2	7
03/02/12	EF3	Jackson, KY to Inez, KY	KY, WV	49.0 mi	1,320 yd	2	37
01/23/12	EF2	Brookwood to Sylvan Springs, Alabama	AL	13.1 mi	880 yd	1	1
01/23/12	EF3	Tarrant to Argo, Alabama	AL	15.7 mi	800 yd	1	75
02/28/12	EF2	Burlingame, Kansas	KS	5.4 mi	150 yd	1	12
02/28/12	EF2	Pleasant Hope to Buffalo, Missouri	MO	9.5 mi	100 yd	1	12

Storm days. A day here runs from 12Z to 12Z (6 a.m. CST to 6 a.m. CST the next morning), the way SPC counts storm days, so an overnight tornado counts with the afternoon and evening before it.
Reporting changed over time. Tornado counts rose from the 1990s on as Doppler radar, spotter networks and cameras caught more weak tornadoes. Counts from different decades are not directly comparable, especially for the weakest ratings.
F and EF ratings. The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale replaced the Fujita (F) Scale on 02/01/07. Both estimate wind speed from damage, but they use different damage indicators, so each rating is shown with its own scale.

Titan Archive · a Tornado Titans project Data: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database · updated 10/03/26