F2 tornado in Edgefield County, South Carolina

Tornado May 7, 1998 · Edgefield County, South Carolina

Rating

6.0 mi

Path length

440 yd

Path width

Injuries

$500K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An F2 tornado touched down west of Johnston and moved into the community just after 8 pm EDT causing major damage to several homes and businesses.

Began near Johnston (33.8300, -81.8800).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F3 Edgefield County 1 dead F3 Edgefield County F1 Saluda County F0 McCormick County F0 Aiken County F0 McCormick County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5639363. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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