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EF1 tornado in Lexington County, South Carolina

Tornado March 3, 2019 · Lexington County, South Carolina

EF1
Rating
10.8 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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 tornado touched down near Blackthorn Dr and Two Notch Rd southeast of Gilbert, then tracked in a general ENE direction for approximately 11 miles, crossing I-20 between mile markers 48-49, then moving across Longs Pond Rd, Muddy Springs

Rd, S Lake Dr and Emanuel Church Rd, before dissipating near Kitti Wake Dr near Red Bank. The tornado snapped and uprooted numerous hardwood and softwood trees, causing damage to support columns at Red Bank Baptist Church, and resulted in roof and property damage to several homes.

The wider storm

An upper trough and strong surface cold front moved through the Central Savannah River Area of GA and Midlands of SC in the late afternoon and evening. Strong thunderstorms developed along and ahead of the front. Sufficient atmospheric instability and shear contributed to the development of seven tornadoes across the region, one EF-0, four EF-1's and two EF-2's.

Began near Gilbert (33.9081, -81.3538).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Edgefield CountyEF1 Lexington CountyEF1 Richland CountyEF1 Richland CountyEF1 Aiken CountyEF0 Orangeburg County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 801832. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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