 | |
| Type: | tornado outbreak |
| Active: | December 21, 2012 |
| Duration of tornado outbreak1: | 62 minutes |
| Maximum rated tornado2: | F6 tornado |
| Highest winds | Unknown |
| Tornadoes confirmed: | 4 |
| Damage: | $50 billion (2012 USD) |
| Injuries: | |
| Fatalities: | 153 |
| Areas affected: | Madison, Cottage Grove, Sun Prairie |
|
1Time from first tornado to last tornado | |
The December 21, 2012 tornado outbreak was a 4-tornado outbreak recorded around Sun Prairie, a small community near Madison, Wisconsin.
Confirmed tornadoes[]
| Confirmed Total |
Confirmed F0 |
Confirmed F1 |
Confirmed F2 |
Confirmed F3 |
Confirmed F4 |
Confirmed F5 |
Confirmed F6 |
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
List of tornadoes[]
| List of confirmed tornadoes - December 21, 2012 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F0 | NNW of Cottage Grove | 1204 | 1.4 miles | 0 deaths - A tornado formed just north-northwest of Cottage Grove and moved through the northern parts of the town. | ||
| F3 | Madison | 1207 | 0.7 miles | 3 deaths - Directly struck the Madison Isthmus, damaging the state capitol and caused irrepairable damage to the Memorial Union. | ||
| F5 | Sun Prairie | 1219 | 1 mile | 0 deaths - Caused incredible damage (and about $4 billion damage) to eastern Sun Prairie, but there were no deaths. | ||
| F6 | Sun Prairie | 1246 | 6.2 miles | 150 deaths - Lots of moisture from Lake Michigan and dry cold air from the northwest led to a significant tornado that would form. The city was inconcievably damaged ($45 billion damage). This tornado was the first F6 tornado ever recorded (it had 325 mph winds) and the widest. At first, it was considered to be an F5, but a thorough study of the ground swirl pattern revealed a strength beyond F5. Combined with the fact that 325 mph winds measured at ground level with Doppler radar, which is 7 mph above the F5/F6 threshold, this tornado was upgraded to an F6 in March 2013. | ||