EF1 tornado in Beaufort County, South Carolina

A National Weather Service (NWS) storm survey team determined that an EF-1 tornado occurred near Port Royal in Beaufort County. This tornado was likely part of the same storm that hit Parris Island just to the south. It began near 11th Street, between Paris and London Avenues, where it snapped several trees including one tree that hit a home on 11th Street. The tornado continued northward across 14th and 15th Streets, close to Paris Avenue. Many hardwood trees and large limbs were snapped in this area, which also took down some powerlines along Paris Avenue. The tornado then moved across the southern portion of Paris Avenue West, snapping more trees and limbs with some falling on a few homes and buildings. Finally, the tornado crossed Ribaut Road, ending just north of the intersection of Ribaut and Royal Palms Roads. All total, the tornado damaged at least 44 buildings in Port Royal and caused an estimated one million dollars in damage. The maximum strength of the tornado was estimated to be EF-1, with peak winds of 95 mph.

Elsa initially developed as a Tropical Depression over the central tropical Atlantic late in the evening of June 30th, 2021. The system quickly tracked to the west-northwest and became Tropical Storm Elsa on the morning of July 1st, 2021 about 850 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands. Elsa strengthened to a hurricane and crossed the Windward Islands on July 2nd, 2021. Over the next several days, Elsa moved across the eastern Caribbean and weakened back to a Tropical Storm as it interacted with the higher terrain of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba. Elsa moved into the eastern Gulf of Mexico late in the evening of July 5th, 2021 and moved north along the west coast of Florida. Elsa made landfall as a Tropical Storm in Taylor County along the north Florida coast on the morning of July 7th, 2021. After landfall, Elsa weakened and tracked northeastward across portions of Georgia and South Carolina through July 8th, 2021. The primary impacts to southeast Georgia and southeast South Carolina included heavy rainfall, a few tornadoes, and gusty winds. Rainfall amounts peaked in the 6-8 inch range across portions of Charleston, Chatham, Beaufort, and Colleton counties. The heavy rainfall did produce some street flooding, causing some roadways to become impassable in and around Savannah and Charleston. Peak winds occurred along the Chatham, Jasper, and Beaufort county coasts where a Weatherflow site in Calibogue Sound measured a 70 knot wind gust. Elsewhere, wind gusts peaked in the 35-45 knot range producing scattered wind damage.