EF1 tornado in Lexington County, South Carolina

Tornado March 16, 2025 · Lexington County, South Carolina

EF1

Rating

5.8 mi

Path length

125 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 125 yards (0.07 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 determined a tornado formed over Lake Murray near Dreher Island before causing EF0 and low end EF1 damage over the Timberlake community. The tornado continued northeast toward Isle of Pines before re-entering the lake, turning more ENE. It caused more EF0 damage from Indian Cove Rd to Wessinger Rd. The tornado then dissipated before reaching Indian Fork Rd.

The wider storm

A surface low drifted into Great Lakes region with a cold front and line of convection nearing the forecast area by the early morning hours. Very strong shear dominated throughout the event with instability rather meager. The line of convection moved across the area from the west between 11z and 18-19z, bringing multiple reports of straight line wind damage, an EF-0 tornado in Barnwell County and an EF-1 tornado near Lake Murray in Lexington County.

Began near Ella (34.0800, -81.3900).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF0 Barnwell County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1232784. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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