EF1 tornado in Lexington County, South Carolina

Tornado January 4, 2023 · Lexington County, South Carolina

EF1

Rating

6.6 mi

Whole path

50 yd

Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A National Weather Service survey team confirmed an EF-1 tornado with peak winds

of 90 mph that touched down north of Woodford, in Lexington County. The tornado

started near the intersection to Cedar Creek Road and Highway 178. The EF-1

damage began shortly afterward along Pooles Mill Road where extensive hardwood and

softwood tree damage was found. The tornado produced EF-0 damage at Whetstone

Road and then traveled northeast along Hydrick Road before crossing Jones Wire and

Woodford Road. The EF-1 damage was only noted in the area along Pooles Mill Road

with sporadic EF-0 along the remainder of the track. The tornado crossed into Orangeburg County just southeast of the intersection of Jones Wire Road and Woodford Road. The tornado continued in Orangeburg County, causing EF-0 damage, then dissipated just northeast of the intersection of Hoffman Road and Lightning Hill Road.

The wider storm

A prefrontal band of showers and thunderstorms produced some wind damage, as well as several tornadoes in the central Midlands of SC in the morning.

Began near Pooles Xrds (33.6653, -81.1892).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF0 Aiken County EF0 Lexington County EF0 Lexington County EF0 Calhoun County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1065047. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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