EF2 tornado in Bamberg County, South Carolina

Tornado January 9, 2024 · Bamberg County, South Carolina

EF2

Rating

2.1 mi

Path length

500 yd

Path width

$1.8M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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

A National Weather storm survey team confirmed an EF2 tornado, with peak winds of

125 mph, in Bamberg SC. The tornado began 1.75 miles south of the City of Bamberg

along US Hwy 601, near Cry Baby Road.

Moving north, the tornado then proceeded to flip a mobile home and cause substantial

EF2 damage to a barrel plant at the intersection of US Hwy 601 and US Hwy 301. Door

and window failure contributed to the collapse of the middle section of the building

and partial collapse of the front section. The collapsed portions of the building were

tossed across Chevrolet St into a water tower.

The tornado continued north-northeast along US-301 causing widespread EF1 roof and

tree damage before moving into downtown Bamberg.

As the tornado entered downtown Bamberg, it strengthened to EF2 intensity and

caused substantial structural damage to a series of 2-3 story historic buildings just

south of the intersection of US Hwy 78 and US Hwy 301. The newer roof section of a

building on the west side of US Hwy 301 was thrown completely off onto the adjacent

structure. There was a complete collapse of the upper stories of two buildings on the

east side of US Hwy 301 with the corner torn off another. Preexisting missing portions

of the roof and gaps in the exterior wall of the former City Hall likely contributed to its

collapse due to wind intrusion.

The tornado then moved north and quickly weakened as it crossed US Hwy 78 before

dissipating 0.4 miles north of downtown Bamberg along US Hwy 301.

The National Weather Service would like to thank wind engineers from the Insurance

Institute for Business and Home Safety for their expertise assisting with surveying

some of the structural damage.

The wider storm

Strong upper level and surface areas of low pressure moved NE into the Midwest, while a cold front along with a secondary weak low, formed and moved through the area. Gradient wind gusts, along with enhanced wind gusts associated with severe thunderstorms and a strong low level jet, resulted in widespread tree damage.

Began near Bamberg (33.2729, -81.0435).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Lexington County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1147216. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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