page_title: Tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2012
section_title: Crittenden – Piner – Morning View, Kentucky
hierarchical_section_title: Tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2012 / Tornadoes / Crittenden – Piner – Morning View, Kentucky
caption_attribution_description: English: Remains of a house that was completely swept away by the Crittenden tornado.
context_page_description: On March 2 and 3, 2012, a deadly tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States into the Ohio Valley region. The storms resulted in 41 tornado-related fatalities, 22 of which occurred in Kentucky. Tornado-related deaths also occurred in Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio. The outbreak was the second deadliest in early March for the U.S. since official records began in 1950; only the 1966 Candlestick Park tornado had a higher death toll for a tornadic system in early March.
context_section_description: This violent wedge tornado was spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm that produced the EF4 Henryville tornado. While not a long-tracked tornado, the damage it produced was very intense along portions of its 9.85-mile long path through parts of northern Kentucky. After the parent supercell had crossed into Kentucky and the Henryville tornado had lifted, the storm began to rotate significantly again as it approached the Grant County town of Crittenden.
  At 4:23 PM, the supercell produced a strong tornado that touched down in the northern part of Crittenden, and immediately began producing significant damage as it impacted multiple residential subdivisions. The worst damage in town occurred at the Harvester subdivision, where many two-story homes were heavily damaged with some losing roofs and exterior walls. Damage to homes in the town of Crittenden ranged from EF1 to low-end EF3 in intensity. 
  As the tornado exited Crittenden, it intensified further as it crossed Interstate 75 and hurled vehicles off of the highway, killing one woman. The tornado then approached and crossed U.S. Route 25, reaching EF4 intensity and completely sweeping away five frame homes, two of which were anchored to their foundations (though the anchoring mechanisms were too widely spaced, negating a higher rating).
  Further along the path, EF4 damage continued as two anchored brick homes were completely leveled and multiple outbuildings were obliterated. Extremely intense vehicle damage occurred in this area as multiple vehicles were lofted long distances through the air and mangled. One vehicle was carried over 600 yards from where it originated. Many large trees were snapped and uprooted in this area as well, including some that were completely denuded and sustained severe debarking. Three additional deaths occurred along his segment of the path, with two of the fatalities occurring in a frame home and the other taking place in a vehicle. The tornado continued to the southwest and south of Piner, weakening back to EF3 strength as it traversed rural areas. Well-built frame homes along this segment of the path had their roofs ripped off and exterior walls collapsed. Numerous single-wide and double-wide mobile homes were completely destroyed in this area as well. 
  Continuing further to the east, the tornado continued to weaken as it approached Morning View, causing a mixture of EF1 and EF2 damage to structures before dissipating south of town. Overall, this tornado killed four people and injured 8 others along its path, reaching a maximum width of one half-mile. As the storm was moving through northern Kentucky, large amounts of debris was observed falling out of the sky, which caused the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to stop all flights for one hour.
caption: Remains of a house that was completely swept away by the Crittenden tornado.
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