Thunderstorm Wind — Chesterfield, South Carolina

2023-07-23 · near Mt Croghan, Chesterfield, South Carolina

Event narrative

The second downburst occurred along and south of Highway 9 near the town of Ruby to

Highway 145 south of the town of Chesterfield. The damage occurred between 2:35 pm

and 2:48 pm EDT. Wind gusts were estimated to range from 80 to 90 mph. There were

several trees downed or uprooted in the town of Ruby. A large pine tree was uprooted

and fell adjacent to a large home in Ruby. Some of the limbs damaged the roof, gable

and wooden siding on the home. Three medium size pine trees fell on two vehicles just

off of Jack Turner Lane. One of the trees just brushed a Jeep. The other two trees

produced some damage as they landed on a Dodge. The trees fell just short of the

house on the property. There was additional tree damage along Bill Brown Lane, and

Center Point Road.

Wider weather episode

A combination of some upper energy, deep layer shear, strong instability, and a surface boundary led to a long-lived severe thunderstorm that produced strong damaging winds and some small hail, in Chesterfield Co SC.

NWS Radar indicated a right moving mini-supercell that moved southeast across

Chesterfield county during the afternoon of the 23rd. The storm initially developed in

northwestern Chesterfield County near Pageland then moved southeast toward Cheraw

State Park. The storm also produced hail along the path. Hail size ranged from pea size

up to nickel size. The NWS Storm Survey Team members along with the Chesterfield

County Deputy Director of Emergency Services estimated damage to approximately

150 to 200 trees along the path of the storm. There were no injuries reported.

The storm produced three distinct areas of wind damage along the path length of

approximately 21 miles. The highest wind gusts associated with the storm were

estimated to be up to 95 mph. Winds of this magnitude occurred in two locations. The

first was between Pageland and Mt. Croghan and the second was along Stage Coach

Road just west of Cheraw State Park.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.7700, -80.2200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1103231. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.