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EF1 tornado in Florence County, South Carolina

Tornado July 2, 2013 · Florence County, South Carolina

EF1
Rating
3.1 mi
Path length
90 yd
Path width
9
Injuries
$88K
Damage as recorded
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 concluded an EF1 tornado developed near the South Carolina Armory between South Stadium Road and South Greer Road. The tornado snapped a large tree and limbs were down in this location. The tornado then moved north and across Highway 76 and then across East Sammys Lane, snapping trees and downing tree limbs along its path. A couple homes were damaged in the Battery Park subdivision. One home had approximately 30 percent of its roof structure removed. Trees were down across the subdivision. The tornado continued north and nearly parallel to Williamson Road causing dozens of snapped trees and large limbs to block a large section of the roadway. After crossing Williamson Road, the tornado downed and snapped trees in a stand in the middle of a large field. Then it entered a mobile home park on the south side of East Old Marion Highway, west of Highway 327. The tornado destroyed 10 mobile homes and 2 other homes sustained major damage. In addition, there were 18 mobile homes that sustained minor damage. Nine people sustained minor injuries and were transported to the hospital, two of which were actually trapped in their homes and had to be extricated. The tornado exited the mobile home park and crossed East Old Marion Highway, snapping more trees and damaging a section of fence along the road. The tornado dissipated on the north side of East Old Marion Highway prior to reaching Highway 327. The maximum wind speed was estimated to 105 mph. The maximum path width was 90 yards. The tornado covered a little more than 3 miles in approximately 11 minutes. The monetary damage estimate is $87,979 dollars.

The wider storm

A supercell moved north with no reports of damage until it spawned a tornado 2 miles east of Quinby in Florence County, South Carolina.

Began near (flo)florence City-c (34.1919, -79.7100).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 463141. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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