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EF2 Tornado — York, South Carolina

2011-11-16 · near Mc Connells, York, South Carolina

Direct deaths

Injuries

$1.0M

Property damage

5.8 mi

Path length

200 yds

Path width

Event narrative

The tornado that touched down near Lowrys in extreme northern Chester County moved into York County southeast of McConnells, just east of Darby Rd. The damage path was non-continuous for the first three miles of its track across York County, although open farmland made it difficult to determine if the tornado was in constant contact with the ground in this area. Damage was generally confined to scattered downed trees. Damage intensified as the tornado approached the Williamson Rd area, near its intersection with Erby Rd, where tree damage became more concentrated. The tornado became very strong and increased in size as it approached and crossed highway 324 in the Ogden Community, near its intersection with Skyline Rd and Williamson Rd. Around a dozen homes were damaged in this area, with one double-wide mobile home being rolled about 75 yards. Two occupants of this home were killed. Another man was killed when the roof of his home was blown off, causing a chimney to collapse on him. Five other people were injured in the Ogden area. A number of sheds and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed and several automobiles were also flipped. The tornado lifted east of Skyline Rd, just short of Vernsdale Rd. The tornado was the strongest to hit York County in almost 40 years, and was the county's first known killer tornado since 1926. The thunderstorm that spawned the tornado was a mini-supercell that traveled over 110 miles before dissipating shortly after the second tornado lifted.

Wider weather episode

An environment of strong wind shear and weak to moderate instability supported the development of a mini-supercell thunderstorm over the eastern Upstate of South Carolina. The storm produced an EF2 tornado in Chester County, along with a couple of weaker tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.8200, -81.1800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 354821. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.