page_title: Tornadoes of 2012
section_title: Synopsis
hierarchical_section_title: Tornadoes of 2012 / Synopsis
caption_attribution_description: English: Preliminary map of killer tornadoes during 2012
context_page_description: This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 2012. Extremely destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Bangladesh, Brazil and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions. Tornadoes also appear regularly in neighboring southern Canada during the Northern Hemisphere's summer season, and somewhat regularly in Europe, Asia, Argentina, and Australia.
  There were 939 tornadoes confirmed in the U.S. in 2012. Worldwide, 91 fatalities have been confirmed: 69 in the United States, six in Turkey, five each in China and Indonesia, three in New Zealand and one each in Italy, Japan and Poland.
context_section_description: The year began with an unusual number of tornadoes during January 2012. The first major tornado outbreak occurred on January 22–23, when a spring-like system moved across the southern Mississippi valley, producing at least two dozen confirmed tornadoes across Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. As a whole, January was the third most active on record, behind 1999 and 2008. Despite this, a significant contrast in activity occurred for the month of February. Despite a slow beginning, the month of February ended with a significant tornado outbreak on the 28th and 29th with a strong EF4 doing significant damage and killing eight in Harrisburg, Illinois. Another ramp-up in activity occurred in early March, with one of the largest outbreaks ever recorded in the United States for that time of the year. This outbreak produced 160 reported tornadoes, and affected areas across Indiana and Kentucky in particular. Using the adjusted preliminary tornado count (85% of the total preliminary reports in order to remove overcount), 2012 attained record tornado activity on March 23 with 319 reports, eclipsing the previous record of 317.
  A relative lull in tornado activity occurred in mid-March, but activity soon rose again by the end of the month when an EF2 killed one person on March 23 near Louisville, Kentucky. The beginning of April also started off active, with a tornado outbreak occurring in North Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. An EF2 caused significant damage in the city of Arlington, where a state of disaster was declared. An EF3 also caused significant damage in Forney, Texas; despite this, no fatalities were reported throughout the outbreak. From April 13–16, an outbreak producing over 95 confirmed tornadoes swept across the Midwest, Kansas and Oklahoma in particular. A tornado emergency was issued for the city of Wichita late on April 14 as an EF3 moved across the southeastern portion of the city. A couple hours later, an EF3 in Oklahoma killed six people when it hit the city of Woodward just after midnight. One EF4 tornado was confirmed in Kansas on April 14, where it stripped trees of bark and destroyed a farmstead. On April 30, several tornadoes swept across Oklahoma and Kansas.
  By contrast, May was much quieter than usual for what is normally the most active month. Several minor outbreaks were spread around the month but no major outbreaks and no fatalities took place. June was also quiet, although there were a few small outbreaks. These included an EF2 on June 4 that caused three fatalities in Diehlstadt, Missouri and a small outbreak in Florida associated with Tropical Storm Debby that killed one person.
  The summer months were among the quietest on record as a persistent ridge prevented any significant storms from developing in the United States, as cooler air was unable to penetrate southward and was held into Canada (similar to February 2010 when warm air was suppressed into the Caribbean). July was very quiet with only 35 confirmed tornadoes. August and September were also generally very quiet as well, broken only by an active period after Hurricane Isaac made landfall, producing a sizable multi-day tornado outbreak.
  October continued to be quiet with only 30 confirmed tornadoes throughout the month. As of November 25, 2012 ranks as the quietest year for tornadoes in the United States, with an estimated 885 tornadoes, below the previous record minimum for that point in the year of 920 tornadoes. Unlike 2011, 2012 went without an EF5 tornado.
caption: Map of all killer tornadoes within the United States in 2012. Only affected counties with fatalities are highlighted along the tracks.
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