Storm Events Database

Event Details:

Event Tornado
-- Scale EF2
-- Length 1.2 Miles
-- Width 250 Yards
State WEST VIRGINIA
County/Area MINGO
WFO RLX
Report Source NWS Storm Survey
NCEI Data Source CSV
Begin Date 2012-03-02 19:38 EST-5
Begin Location 1ENE KERMIT
Begin Lat/Lon 37.8326/-82.4039
End Date 2012-03-02 19:42 EST-5
End Location 2E KERMIT
End Lat/Lon 37.8345/-82.382
Deaths Direct/Indirect 0/0 (fatality details below, when available...)
Injuries Direct/Indirect 0/0
Property Damage 90.00K
Crop Damage 0.00K
Episode Narrative A deepening low pressure system was lifting northeast out of central Illinois around midday on Friday, the 2nd. It reached southern Michigan by evening. By late afternoon its associated warm front had pulled north into central Ohio and into central West Virginia near Charleston. Some small hail fell with the warm front across southern West Virginia during the late morning hours. The warm front struggled to move much further to the northeast. This left eastern Kentucky in the warm sector. During the late afternoon, surface dew points increased into the upper 50s in eastern Kentucky and into the lower 60s across southern Kentucky. This was ahead of the approaching cold front.
Severe thunderstorms, including distinct supercells, moved into eastern Kentucky just before sunset. One of those supercells produced a long lived tornado that moved into Wayne County from Lawrence County, Kentucky. The tornado crossed the Tug Fork River near Glen Hayes and moved through the Dunlow, Kiahsville, Cove Gap vicinity. It weakened and disispated in Lincoln County. It was the same storm that had hit West Liberty, Kentucky earlier. A shorter track tornado formed a short time later from a separate cell, affecting portions of Lincoln County.
Another tornado with a long track, crossed the Tug Fork River near Kermit before weakening and lifting in Mingo County. This is the first recorded tornado for Mingo County. This was same supercell thunderstorm that had hit the Salyersville, Kentucky vicinity earlier.
Flooding was also a significant problem. The warm frontal rain kept the ground saturated. The early evening thunderstorms then dumped around 1.5 inches in 3 hours, causing flash flooding on streams, mainly in Wayne and Lincoln Counties.
In Lincoln County, the total damage from the 2 tornado paths plus the flash flooding was 1 house destroyed, 5 homes with major damage, and 8 others with minor damage.
Around 2,300 customers lost electricity in Wayne County, with another 2000 in Lincoln County.
In the aftermath, a few residents around Charleston, including the Kanawha County community of Tornado, found paper envelopes, cancelled checks, and pictures around their property, that had fallen from the sky. The items were from the West Liberty, Kentucky vicinity.
This event was included with the 29th of February episode as a federal disaster. Around 130 West Virginia National Guard troops were used in the field during the course of this federal disaster. See FEMA disaster number 4059 for additional details.
Event Narrative A tornado coming out of Martin County Kentucky crossed over the Tug Fork River and lifted just as it entered West Virginia.
The tornado hit a ridge line just south of Kermit. Several trees were blown down. Debris was carried over the river from the Lovely vicinity of Martin County and scattered on the mountainside and across Route 52. The tornado was lifting but still came in contact with a railroad communication tower. The tower was 280 feet tall with a base elevation of 1380 feet above mean sea level. The free standing tower was fully collapsed over the back side of the ridge. It was determined that the tornado destroyed the tower before completely lifting up and dissipating. Winds of 125 mph were estimated.


    

Event Map:

Note: The tornado track is approximate based on the beginning (B) and ending (E) locations. The actual tornado path may differ from a straight line.
Measure
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All events for this episode:

Location County/Zone St. Date Time T.Z. Type Mag Dth Inj PrD CrD
Totals: 0 0 2.858M 0.00K
MALLORY LOGAN CO. WV 03/02/2012 10:43 EST-5 Hail 0.75 in. 0 0 3.00K 0.00K
SHIVELY LOGAN CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:20 EST-5 Flash Flood 0 0 10.00K 0.00K
BREEDEN MINGO CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:30 EST-5 Flash Flood 0 0 10.00K 0.00K
PADDLE CREEK WAYNE CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:35 EST-5 Hail 1.75 in. 0 0 10.00K 0.00K
FT GAY WAYNE CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:38 EST-5 Hail 1.75 in. 0 0 10.00K 0.00K
GLENHAYES WAYNE CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:38 EST-5 Tornado EF3 0 0 1.900M 0.00K
HAMLIN LINCOLN CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:40 EST-5 Flash Flood 0 0 350.00K 0.00K
COVE GAP WAYNE CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:52 EST-5 Hail 1.75 in. 0 0 0.00K 0.00K
CUZZIE LINCOLN CO. WV 03/02/2012 18:57 EST-5 Tornado EF1 0 0 200.00K 0.00K
MARMET KANAWHA CO. WV 03/02/2012 19:30 EST-5 Thunderstorm Wind 50 kts. EG 0 0 7.00K 0.00K
BRADYVILLE LINCOLN CO. WV 03/02/2012 19:32 EST-5 Tornado EF1 0 0 150.00K 0.00K
KERMIT MINGO CO. WV 03/02/2012 19:38 EST-5 Tornado EF2 0 0 90.00K 0.00K
GREYEAGLE MINGO CO. WV 03/02/2012 19:41 EST-5 Hail 1.50 in. 0 0 5.00K 0.00K
EAST LYNN WAYNE CO. WV 03/02/2012 20:00 EST-5 Hail 1.75 in. 0 0 5.00K 0.00K
GRIFFITHSVILLE LINCOLN CO. WV 03/02/2012 20:05 EST-5 Hail 1.75 in. 0 0 5.00K 0.00K
PHICO LOGAN CO. WV 03/02/2012 20:05 EST-5 Hail 1.00 in. 0 0 3.00K 0.00K
FT GAY WAYNE CO. WV 03/02/2012 20:40 EST-5 Flash Flood 0 0 100.00K 0.00K
Totals: 0 0 2.858M 0.00K