EF0 tornado in Lancaster County, South Carolina

Tornado May 24, 2017 · Lancaster County, South Carolina

EF0

Rating

8.1 mi

Whole path

50 yd

Path width

$100K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Lancaster County → Union County, North Carolina; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 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

An NWS Storm Survey Team determined that a tornado touched down northeast of Lancaster close to the North Carolina State Line near Shiloh Unity Road. The tornado continued northward causing EF-0 damage to crops and trees near Locker Road. The tornado was in Lancaster County for 0.5 miles having a path width of no more than 50 yards. The maximum wind speed during this time was 75 mph.

The tornado moved across the state line, into Union County North Carolina, and tracked northeast for over 7 miles. Most of the damage was to trees but a few structures were damaged. The most significant damage was to a barn that had the sides and much of the roof torn off. This area received a rating of EF-1 with maximum winds speeds of 100 mph.

The wider storm

An upper disturbance ahead of an upper trough, combined with considerable atmospheric instability, moisture, and shear ahead of an approaching surface cold front, to produce shower and thunderstorm activity. Some severe thunderstorms produced tornadoes, strong damaging wind gusts, locally heavy rain, and some hail.

Began near Sapps Xrds (34.8103, -80.6373).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Saluda County EF1 Saluda County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 696752. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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