EF0 tornado in Republic County, Kansas

Another brief tornado formed from the storm that caused the tornado near Jamestown, Kansas earlier that evening. This tornado did relatively little damage, but did end up causing some minor damage to a few residences near Belleville, Kansas; and produced some extensive tree damage to the Belleville Country Club. There, several 24+ diameter trees were uprooted and snapped near the ground. Aside from the residence and tree damage, several outbuildings near Belleville were also damaged in the weak and brief tornado.

On the evening of Tuesday, February 28 2012, a very strong upper level storm system caused widespread thunderstorms to form across most of central and eastern Kansas. The storms initiated approximately 4:00 PM and increased in coverage and intensity throughout the night. Since atmospheric instability was not extremely high there were few reports of severe hail; however, many structures across the area were damaged due to strong, straight-line thunderstorm winds.

The most significant event from the evening of February 28 was a strong tornado that impacted Harveyville, Kansas at approximately 9:03 pm CST. The town sustained significant damage to some structures, including an apartment complex and a church. On Wednesday, February 29 a National Weather Service survey crew traveled to Harveyville to assess the damage. The tornado caused at least 12 injuries and one fatality. The survey crew gave a preliminary assessment of EF-2 damage, indicating wind speeds of 111 - 135 mph.

Three other tornadoes occurred across the area that night, but no injuries and only marginal damage to outbuildings and structures occurred from these other tornadoes.