EF0 tornado in Saluda County, South Carolina

Tornado March 12, 2026 · Saluda County, South Carolina

EF0

Rating

0.5 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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

The NWS has confirmed an EF-0 tornado in Ridge Spring, SC based on a public report and corresponding strong velocity couplet from KCAE radar. The tornado formed east of Ridge Spring Hwy and south of Murphy Farm Rd. While a survey was not conducted, pictures of the damage show multiple hardwood trees uprooted and partial loss of metal roofing on a small barn.

The wider storm

A southern stream shortwave phased with a digging northern stream upper trough over the OH/TN valleys the night of 3/11 into the morning of 3/12 bringing a strongly forced system into the forecast area. The environment ahead of this system was characterized by sufficient instability with MLCAPE values around 500 J/kg, 0-1km SRH values of 100-200 m2s2 and 0-6km shear of 60 knots. This environment combined with strong forcing supported a QLCS line that moved across the forecast area during the morning hours. Several damaging wind reports and a few tornadoes occurred.

Began near Ridge Spg (33.8674, -81.6782).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF0 Richland County EF0 Bamberg County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1315024. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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