A Leap Day Tornado In 2012!

Are you ready for severe weather season??

February 26, 2024

How is it the last week of February already?! One week away to our first research trip of the year! We will be in Ohio and will be diving into the Xenia F5 for the Super Outbreak project while continuing our writing on the Guin story!

In our latest “This Week In Tornado History” Video: An outbreak of 35 tornadoes occurred across 6 states on February 29, 2012. During the early morning, a squall line with embedded supercells pressed through parts of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The strongest tornado of the day occurred between 451am and 504am CT.

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🌪️ This Week In Tornado History

February 26, 2008 - Bowden, GA: On this day, an EF3 tornado struck Carroll County, GA just north of Bowden. Six homes were destroyed and 120 others were damaged. One person was injured.

February 27, 1956 - White House-Portland, TN: An F3 tornado moved 15 miles through parts of Sumner County, TN. Two homes and several barns were destroyed. There were four injuries.

Image from newspapers.com.

February 28, 2017 - Perryville, MO: An EF4 tornado tracked for 50 miles from near Perryville, MO to just southwest of Christopher, IL. One person was killed, and 12 others were injured. The worst damage was just northwest of Perryville, where five homes were leveled. Suction vortices left ground striations/scarring to bare ground in Perry County near the Mississippi River.

Image of Ground scarring/striations near Mississippi River in Perry County MO. Photo via NWS Paducah.

February 29, 1952 - Fayetteville, TN: This F3 tornado moved two miles and destroyed 140 homes. Over 300 other houses were damaged.

March 1, 2007 - Enterprise, AL: At 12:47 pm CST on March 1, 2007, a tornado warning was issued for Coffee County, AL. This included the City of Enterprise. At approximately 1:05 pm CST, the tornado was documented on the ground at the Enterprise Municipal Airport. Minor damage to homes occurred. Four chicken houses were destroyed. Five minutes later, the tornado hit Enterprise High School. Eight students were killed when a concrete wall collapsed on top of them as they huddled in a hallway in a crouched position.

An aerial view of the destroyed Enterprise High School where an EF-4 tornado touched down in Enterprise, Alabama. Via Storm Data.

March 2, 1906 - Meridian, MS: A devastating F4 tornado moved 11 miles through Lauderdale, MS. It struck Meridian. Homes were swept away and factories were leveled. ‘Small balls of fire’ were said to have been thrown from the front and sides (but not the rear) of the tornado). 23 people were killed and 60 injured.

March 3, 2019 - Beauregard-Smiths Station (AL)-Talbotton (GA): A long-track, killer tornado moved 68.04 miles through portions of Alabama and Georgia on this day in 2019. 23 were killed in Lee County, AL. 97 were injured along the tornado’s path. The American Red Cross estimated 225 homes were destroyed in Lee County, with another 133 homes sustaining major damage.

Damage photo from NWS Birmingham.

Post of the Week

Each Friday, Tornado Talk writer/researcher Nelson Tucker posts on our social media account an “Old Photo Friday” Feature. Here is the one from Friday, Feb 23 of the Alfalfa, OK F3 that occurred April 11, 1927. Links to all of our social media accounts are found at the bottom of our newsletter!

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