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EF1 tornado in Richland County, South Carolina

Tornado January 27, 2024 · Richland County, South Carolina

EF1
Rating
0.9 mi
Path length
90 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 90 yards (0.05 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 storm survey team confirmed a brief EF-1 tornado, with

peak winds of 90 mph, in northeast Richland County near Pontiac. The tornado began

in a wooded area southwest of Kelly Mill Road and to the east of Bridge Creek where it

snapped and uprooted numerous softwood trees. It also snapped off the top of a power

pole and peeled back a portion of the tin roof of a shed. The tornado then crossed Kelly

Mill Road and continued northeast where it snapped and uprooted additional trees near

a home and then the tornado continued into an inaccessible wooded area. The last

visible damage appears to be a snapped tree at the end of Mazola Court. The tornado

likely lifted before crossing Cherokee Blvd in Kershaw County.

The wider storm

A cold front and upper disturbance, combined with sufficient instability and shear, to produce a few severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

Began near Pontiac (34.1614, -80.8590).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Saluda County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1149609. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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