On March 2nd, severe thunderstorms led to one of the worst March tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. A preliminary count of 120 tornadoes, as reported by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, left massive destruction in their wake across parts of the Midwest and Southeast. At least 39 people were killed in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, and Georgia. Hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed in about a dozen states. The average number of tornadoes for the entire month of March is 80. One of the hardest-hit areas was Clark County, Indiana, where an EF-4 tornado, with winds whipping up to 175 mph (282 km/hr), struck the town of Henryville. In its entirety, the tornado left a 49-mile (79-km) long path of "total devastation", as described by an Indiana state police sargeant.
Hawaii Record Hailstone
Source: NOAA's NWS A severe thunderstorm affected eastern Oahu, Hawaii on March 9th. The storm spawned a waterspout that moved onshore, thus becoming a weak tornado. The EF-0 tornado caused damage to several homes and downed trees in the towns of Lanikai and Kailua. Tornadoes are rare in the Hawaiian Islands, averaging one tornado per year. This was the first tornado on Oahu since February 2009. The storm also produced large record-breaking hail. Hail of 2 to 3 inches in diameter were reported. In the town of Kailua a hailstone 4.25 inches long, 2.25 inches tall, and 2 inches wide was reported—the largest hailstone on record for the state of Hawaii. The previous record was 1 inch in diameter. Prior to this event there were no reports of hail bigger than an inch since the Hawaiian hailstone records began in 1950.
A severe storm with strong winds affected the Australian city of Townsville (located in the state of Queensland) on March 20th. The storm produced what was locally called a "mini-tornado" since local meteorologists did not officially call the weather phenomenon a tornado. The "mini-tornado" downed trees and power lines and caused roof damage to nearly 60 homes. Thirteen people were reportedly injured.
Tropical Storm Irina skirted down the western coast of Madagascar during the first few days of March, killing at least 65 people, mostly in the town of Ifanadiana. The storm affected nearly 68,000 people and left more than 21,000 homeless. Tropical Cyclone Giovanna struck Madagascar just a few weeks earlier, and Irina destroyed roads and residences already weakened by the effects of Giovanna. The storm also affected countries in southern Africa, resulting in four fatalities in South Africa and eight in Mozambique (including five fisherman off the nation's coast). In Durban, waves reached 16 feet (three meters), closing beaches and forcing ships to remain in port. 
Citing This Report
NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: Global Hazards for March 2012, published online April 2012, retrieved on May 31, 2012 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/hazards/2012/3.Questions?
For questions on technical or scientific content of this report, please contact:
Jessica Blunden:
Jessica.Blunden@noaa.gov
Jessica Blunden:
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Last Updated Monday, 16-Apr-2012 10:56:36 EDT by Jessica.Blunden@noaa.gov
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