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F3 tornado in Union and Spartanburg County, South Carolina

Tornado August 16, 1994 · Union and Spartanburg County, South Carolina

F3
Rating
30.0 mi
Path length
250 yd
Path width
$500K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Tornado began near Santuc as a large multi-vortex F3 tornado. Spotters engaged the storm almost immediately and followed it as it curved north to northwest through the County. The storm had intermittent ground contact of about 30 to 40 percent but there was not a great deal of separation between areas of damage. The path width gradually diminished to about 50 yards from 0.75 mile initially, and the storm intensity gradually weakened to F2 and then to F1 at Pauline. The tornado crossed into Spartanburg County near Pacolet Mills at 1545EST. A well constructed home near Santuc was destroyed, a stationary vehicle was thrown aout 150 yds, and other homes and structures received severe damage along its path.

Began near Santuck To (34.6300, -81.5200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10346400. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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