EF2 tornado in Lexington County, South Carolina

Tornado April 5, 2022 · Lexington County, South Carolina

EF2

Rating

5.7 mi

Whole path

100 yd

Path width

Injury

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Aiken County → Lexington County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The National Weather Service storm survey confirmed an EF2 tornado from northern Aiken County into southern Lexington County.

The tornado touched down in Aiken Co then moved NE and crossed into Lexington Co.

The tornado continued to move NE and crossed I-20 just west of mile marker 39, near

exit 39. There was significant tree damage along the westbound lanes of I-20. Several

trees were uprooted and snapped in the vicinity.

The tornado moved NE crossing US Hwy 178 (Fairview Hwy) and produced some minor

damage to the roof and underpinning of 2 homes and uprooted a few small trees along

Annie Hallman Rd. The tornado dissipated just beyond the intersection of Annie

Hallman Rd and Live Oak Rd.

The wider storm

An upper level disturbance and the interaction of surface boundaries, along with increasing moisture, led to thunderstorms that developed and moved east across the region during the afternoon. Sufficient atmospheric instability and shear led some of the thunderstorms to produce damaging wind and tornadoes, along with locally heavy rain.

Began near Samaria (33.7990, -81.4720).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

7 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Bamberg County EF2 Clarendon County EF1 Lexington County EF1 Bamberg County EF0 Bamberg County EF0 Orangeburg County EF0 Orangeburg County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1007066. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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