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EF2 tornado in Aiken County, South Carolina

Tornado March 15, 2008 · Aiken County, South Carolina

EF2
Rating
25.5 mi
Whole path
1,760 yd
Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,760 yards (1.00 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

Extensive damage in the Clearwater area. Numerous trees and powerlines down along the entire track, especially in the Clearwater area. Many homes had severe damage to roofs and stuctures. Some roofs were gone. The water tower had its top taken off and deposited several hundred yards away. Damage path was a mile wide a some points. It was amazing there were no injuries or deaths.

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 Horse Creek (33.4900, -81.9000).

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 Saluda CountyEF2 Lexington CountyEF2 Calhoun 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 76028. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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