EF1 tornado in Calhoun County, South Carolina

Tornado September 27, 2024 · Calhoun County, South Carolina

EF1

Rating

13.7 mi

Whole path

710 yd

Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 710 yards (0.40 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

An EF1 tornado touched down associated with the outer bands of Helene in Calhoun County along Providence Rd near the Orangeburg County line. The tornado

produced EF1 damage to trees along Bull Swamp Rd near Kennerly Rd before continuing northwest, producing EF0 tree damage along Kennerly Rd. The tornado then continued into Lexington County.

The wider storm

Tropical Storm Helene formed in the NW Caribbean Sea on September 24. Helene moved northward into the Gulf of Mexico where it strengthened into a hurricane on September 25. Helene made landfall as a major hurricane in the Big Bend area of Florida the night of September 26 before quickly moving inland into east central Georgia by early morning on September 27. Helene weakened to a strong tropical storm and produced widespread significant wind damage, including wind gusts above 100 mph across east central Georgia and central South Carolina as well as numerous tornadoes. Numerous fatalities and injuries were reported associated with the passage of Helene.

Began near Hammond Xrds (33.6433, -80.9454).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Orangeburg County EF0 Orangeburg County EF0 Orangeburg County EF0 Orangeburg County EF0 Sumter County EF0 Clarendon County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1209151. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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