South Carolina, 1989

Tornadoes and Hail in South Carolina, May 5, 1989

May 5, 1989 · NWS CAE · 61 events in 41 counties and zones

54 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 3 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
2
Injuries
44
Property damage
$5.3 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
61

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

54 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Oconee

When
May 5, 3:40 PM EST
Where
Oconee County
Rating
F1
Path length
2.1 mi
Path width
30 yd
Property damage
$250,000
Coordinates
34.870, -83.030

Thunderstorm Wind, Chesterfield

When
May 5, 3:00 PM CST
Where
Chesterfield County
Coordinates
34.650, -80.380

Tornado, Oconee

When
May 5, 3:15 PM CST
Where
Oconee County
Rating
F2
Path length
4.5 mi
Path width
73 yd
Property damage
$25,000
Coordinates
34.630, -83.230

Tornado, Cherokee

When
May 5, 4:33 PM EST
Where
Cherokee County
Rating
F4
Path length
3 mi
Path width
700 yd
Property damage
$2.5 million
Coordinates
35.170, -81.830

Hail, Anderson

When
May 5, 3:42 PM CST
Where
Anderson County
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
34.500, -82.650

Thunderstorm Wind, Pickens

When
May 5, 3:45 PM CST
Where
Pickens County
Coordinates
34.920, -82.820

Thunderstorm Wind, Anderson

When
May 5, 3:45 PM CST
Where
Anderson County
Coordinates
34.330, -82.650

Thunderstorm Wind, Abbeville

When
May 5, 3:50 PM CST
Where
Abbeville County
Coordinates
34.180, -82.380

Thunderstorm Wind, Pickens

When
May 5, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Pickens County
Coordinates
34.880, -82.780

Thunderstorm Wind, Greenwood

When
May 5, 4:08 PM CST
Where
Greenwood County
Coordinates
34.180, -82.170

Thunderstorm Wind, Anderson

When
May 5, 4:10 PM CST
Where
Anderson County
Coordinates
34.450, -82.380

Thunderstorm Wind, Greenville

When
May 5, 4:10 PM CST
Where
Greenville County
Coordinates
34.900, -82.370

Thunderstorm Wind, Greenville

When
May 5, 4:12 PM CST
Where
Greenville County
Coordinates
34.700, -82.200

Tornado, Spartanburg

When
May 5, 4:20 PM CST
Where
Spartanburg County
Rating
F4
Path length
6 mi
Path width
700 yd
Deaths
2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
35 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$2.5 million
Coordinates
35.080, -81.930

Hail, Spartanburg

When
May 5, 4:35 PM CST
Where
Spartanburg County
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
35.180, -81.870

Thunderstorm Wind, Laurens

When
May 5, 4:35 PM CST
Where
Laurens County
Coordinates
34.520, -82.030

Thunderstorm Wind, Greenwood

When
May 5, 4:38 PM CST
Where
Greenwood County
Coordinates
34.150, -82.080

Thunderstorm Wind, Spartanburg

When
May 5, 4:40 PM CST
Where
Spartanburg County
Coordinates
34.750, -82.030

Thunderstorm Wind, Union

When
May 5, 4:50 PM CST
Where
Union County
Coordinates
34.720, -81.620

Thunderstorm Wind, McCormick

When
May 5, 4:50 PM CST
Where
McCormick County
Coordinates
33.850, -82.270

Thunderstorm Wind, Cherokee

When
May 5, 4:50 PM CST
Where
Cherokee County
Coordinates
35.070, -81.630

Thunderstorm Wind, Newberry

When
May 5, 4:53 PM CST
Where
Newberry County
Coordinates
34.320, -81.720

Thunderstorm Wind, Aiken

When
May 5, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Aiken County
Coordinates
33.580, -81.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Saluda

When
May 5, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Saluda County
Coordinates
34.000, -81.750

Thunderstorm Wind, Laurens

When
May 5, 5:05 PM CST
Where
Laurens County
Coordinates
34.470, -81.880

Thunderstorm Wind, Edgefield

When
May 5, 5:05 PM CST
Where
Edgefield County
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
33.800, -81.870

Hail, Lexington

When
May 5, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Lexington County
Measured
2.5 in hail
Coordinates
33.950, -81.420

Thunderstorm Wind, Lexington

When
May 5, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Lexington County
Coordinates
34.100, -81.420

Thunderstorm Wind, Newberry

When
May 5, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Newberry County
Coordinates
34.320, -81.720

Thunderstorm Wind, Lexington

When
May 5, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Lexington County
Coordinates
34.080, -81.180

Thunderstorm Wind, Richland

When
May 5, 5:30 PM CST
Where
Richland County
Coordinates
34.000, -81.020

Thunderstorm Wind, Fairfield

When
May 5, 5:30 PM CST
Where
Fairfield County
Coordinates
34.400, -81.070

Thunderstorm Wind, York

When
May 5, 5:40 PM CST
Where
York County
Coordinates
34.970, -81.170

Thunderstorm Wind, Bamberg

When
May 5, 6:10 PM CST
Where
Bamberg County
Coordinates
33.250, -81.020

Thunderstorm Wind, Chester

When
May 5, 6:10 PM CST
Where
Chester County
Coordinates
34.700, -81.180

Thunderstorm Wind, Marlboro

When
May 5, 6:10 PM CST
Where
Marlboro County
Coordinates
34.550, -79.680

Thunderstorm Wind, Barnwell

When
May 5, 6:15 PM CST
Where
Barnwell County
Coordinates
33.270, -81.250

Thunderstorm Wind, Lancaster

When
May 5, 6:30 PM CST
Where
Lancaster County
Injuries
7 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
34.550, -80.580

Thunderstorm Wind, Sumter

When
May 5, 6:30 PM CST
Where
Sumter County
Coordinates
33.880, -80.280

Thunderstorm Wind, Kershaw

When
May 5, 6:30 PM CST
Where
Kershaw County
Coordinates
34.250, -80.600

Thunderstorm Wind, Orangeburg

When
May 5, 6:45 PM CST
Where
Orangeburg County
Coordinates
33.470, -80.820

Thunderstorm Wind, Lancaster

When
May 5, 6:51 PM CST
Where
Lancaster County
Coordinates
34.770, -80.650

Thunderstorm Wind, Florence

When
May 5, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Florence County
Coordinates
34.200, -79.770

Thunderstorm Wind, Lee

When
May 5, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Lee County
Coordinates
34.170, -80.230

Thunderstorm Wind, Chesterfield

When
May 5, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Chesterfield County
Coordinates
34.650, -80.380

Thunderstorm Wind, Clarendon

When
May 5, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Clarendon County
Coordinates
33.700, -80.220

Thunderstorm Wind, Darlington

When
May 5, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Darlington County
Coordinates
34.300, -79.870

Thunderstorm Wind, Dorchester

When
May 5, 7:15 PM CST
Where
Dorchester County
Coordinates
33.250, -80.520

Thunderstorm Wind, Hampton

When
May 5, 7:16 PM CST
Where
Hampton County
Coordinates
32.770, -81.130

Thunderstorm Wind, Berkeley

When
May 5, 7:20 PM CST
Where
Berkeley County
Coordinates
33.230, -79.970

Thunderstorm Wind, Colleton

When
May 5, 7:25 PM CST
Where
Colleton County
Coordinates
32.900, -80.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Dorchester

When
May 5, 7:25 PM CST
Where
Dorchester County
Coordinates
33.020, -80.330

Thunderstorm Wind, Williamsburg

When
May 5, 8:00 PM CST
Where
Williamsburg County
Coordinates
33.630, -79.770

Thunderstorm Wind, Dillon

When
May 5, 8:00 PM CST
Where
Dillon County
Coordinates
34.430, -79.330

Thunderstorm Wind, Colleton

When
May 5, 8:01 PM CST
Where
Colleton County
Coordinates
33.080, -80.800

Thunderstorm Wind, Berkeley

When
May 5, 8:14 PM CST
Where
Berkeley County
Coordinates
32.980, -80.030

Thunderstorm Wind, Williamsburg

When
May 5, 8:15 PM CST
Where
Williamsburg County
Coordinates
33.450, -79.570

Thunderstorm Wind, Williamsburg

When
May 5, 8:15 PM CST
Where
Williamsburg County
Coordinates
33.520, -79.880

Thunderstorm Wind, Charleston

When
May 5, 8:45 PM CST
Where
Charleston County
Coordinates
32.730, -79.930

Thunderstorm Wind, Horry

When
May 5, 8:55 PM CST
Where
Horry County
Coordinates
33.700, -78.880

Thunderstorm Wind, Georgetown

When
May 5, 8:59 PM CST
Where
Georgetown County
Coordinates
33.470, -79.300

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 1989Every state in 1989This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Carolina, 1989Warnings in South Carolina, May 1989

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10111087, 10111085, 10111086, 10111954, 10111944, 10111945, 10111946, 10111947, 10111948, 10111949, 10111950, 10111951, 10111952, 10111953, 10111955, 10111956, 10111957, 10111958, 10111959, 10111960, 10112173, 10112174, 10112175, 10112176, 10112177, 10112178, 10112179, 10112180, 10112181, 10112182, 10112183, 10112184, 10112185, 10112186, 10112187, 10112188, 10112189, 10112190, 10112191, 10112192, and more.