EF1 tornado in Dorchester County, South Carolina

Tornado March 15, 2008 · Dorchester County, South Carolina

EF1

Rating

2.2 mi

Path length

40 yd

Path width

$218K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. 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

An EF1 Tornado was confirmed by a storm survey conducted by the Charleston, South Carolina National Weather Service Office. The Tornado touched down north of Ridgeville, South Carolina at the Carters fast stop gas station, and traveled 2.2 miles before lifting. The maximum width of the tornado was determined to be 40 yards. Roof panels were stripped from the Canopy at the Carters fast stop gas station, two mobile homes were damaged with one shifted 5 feet off its foundation and another having its windows and doors blown out. Additionally, a car was moved approximately 50 feet. The estimated maximum sustained winds in this EF1 Tornado were estimated to be between 100 and 110 mph.

The wider storm

A large and intense area of low pressure lifted northward through the central Appalachians, dragging a strong cold front toward southern South Carolina and southeast Georgia. The combination of the approaching cold front along with strong dynamic forcing and plenty of instability resulted in a widespread organized severe weather outbreak across the region.

Began near Ridgeville (33.1100, -80.3200).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Allendale County EF1 Berkeley County EF1 Berkeley County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 90467. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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