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EF2 tornado in Saluda County, South Carolina

Tornado March 15, 2008 · Saluda County, South Carolina

EF2
Rating
32.7 mi
Whole path
440 yd
Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through McCormick County → Edgefield County → Saluda County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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 EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

Supercell from McCormick and Edgefield counties crossed into southern Saluda county just south of Ward taking down many trees in its path. A house located at 381 Mt. Alpha Road south of the Ward town limits had major damage. The resident was in the kitchen when a huge limb almost struck her in the head. Her three kids were in the living room that had a limb go through the ceiling. Also, a truck across the street had a power pole and tree fall on it.

The wider storm

Seven supercells tracked across our South Carolina County Warning Area and produced many long-lived tornadoes that did significant damage. Over 85 homes were destroyed, around 400 had moderate damage, and estimates for the total devastation were around 40 million dollars.

Began near Ward (33.8500, -81.7860).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Newberry CountyEF3 Bamberg CountyEF2 Kershaw CountyEF2 Kershaw CountyEF2 Lexington CountyEF2 Calhoun CountyEF2 Aiken CountyEF2 Lee CountyEF1 McCormick CountyEF1 Chesterfield CountyEF1 Richland CountyEF1 Clarendon CountyEF1 Bamberg CountyEF1 Kershaw CountyEF0 Fairfield CountyEF0 Kershaw CountyEF0 Aiken CountyEF0 Edgefield CountyEF0 Barnwell County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 75988. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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