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.
A moderate risk of severe weather was issued for March 2 a day in advance for a large area from near Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Dayton, Ohio as an intense storm system tracked across the region in a very high shear environment.
[7][8] The outbreak began fairly early in the morning, with an initial round of storms and tornadoes associated with the incoming warm front attached to a rapidly deepening low-pressure area over the central Great Lakes.
[8] As isolated activity developed farther south, intense supercells also formed in central Kentucky in the late afternoon hours and tracked east into the Eastern Mountain Coal Fields region before weakening as they reached West Virginia later that evening.
[13] A mesoscale convective system in South Carolina was responsible for hail reports in the area, although the threat for tornadoes was reduced with lower instability levels.
[15] On March 4, most of the cold front responsible for the outbreak had already moved into the Atlantic Ocean with only a small portion of thunderstorms extending into Florida.
[67] The tornado first touched down in Washington County around 2:50 p.m. EST at the south edge of Fredericksburg, snapping trees at EF1 strength along a narrow path as it moved to the northeast.
The tornado intensified further as it passed to the north of Palmyra, where it crossed SR 135 and ripped 6 in (15 cm) thick slabs of asphalt off the roadway and tossed them 10 to 30 yd (9.1 to 27.4 m).
As it neared the Clark County border, the tornado produced high-end EF3 to EF4 strength damage to many homes and farmsteads as it traversed rural areas.
The Henryville school complex was in the process of dismissing as the tornado approached the community, and sustained EF4 structural damage including total destruction of its cafeteria.
Low-level winds in this area were so intense that debris was found wedged underneath plastic reflective strips in the parking lot.
[67] Past Henryville, the tornado dramatically weakened and lost its ominous shape, taking on a narrow rope-like appearance and inflicting only EF1 damage.
In Jefferson County, the tornado skirted the south edge of the small community of Chelsea, completely leveling several well-built homes.
The tornado then narrowed, weakened to EF2 intensity, and crossed into Trimble County, Kentucky, destroying barns, mobile homes, and downing many trees and power lines before dissipating near the town of Bedford.
[67] Days after the outbreak, a New Pekin resident began helping others recover lost items through a Facebook page called "I Found Your Memory."
[70] A local baseball team in southern Indiana began raising money on March 14 to help those injured pay for their medical fees.
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.
This rain-wrapped wedge tornado moved east and reached high-end EF3 intensity as it neared the Pendleton County line, damaging or destroying several homes in the area.
Damage surveyors noted some modular block foundation homes in this area that were lifted into the air intact, before being thrown in excess of 100 yards and smashed back to the ground, completely obliterating them.
It rapidly attained EF3 strength before moving east and passing to the south of Wellington, heavily damaging or destroying multiple homes along this segment of the path, snapping or uprooting many large trees, killing two people, and injuring many others.
[77] Further east, the tornado expanded to nearly a mile wide and entered Morgan County, passing north of Ezel before ripping directly through downtown West Liberty at EF3 strength, resulting in catastrophic damage.
Past West Liberty, the tornado continued through other rural portions of the county, expanding up to a full mile wide as it snapped thousands of trees and caused extensive damage to structures.
Maintaining EF3 strength, the tornado then briefly moved through a portion of Lawrence County near the community of Terryville, obliterating several mobile homes and injuring two people.
Narrow roads and hillsides in the area were left covered in fallen trees and power lines, pieces of sheet metal roofing, and damaged vehicles.
Ironically, a funeral in the area that evening may have saved several lives since it was being held in a nearby community for a Cove Gap resident at the time of the tornado.
Once in Magoffin County, the tornado began to widen and intensify as it continued along its path, snapping many trees and crossing the Mountain Parkway multiple times.
Reaching high-end EF3 intensity and a path width of 3/4 of a mile wide, the tornado struck the town Salyersville, resulting in major damage.
[81] Past Salyersville, the tornado maintained its strength and caused additional major damage in the rural community of Conley before crossing into Johnson County.
Past Hager Hill, the tornado weakened somewhat as it immediately struck the neighboring town of West Van Lear, tearing the roofs off of numerous homes and a church.
Additional hillsides suffered total deforestation in the Beauty community before the tornado struck the town of Lovely at the Kentucky/West Virginia state border.