Tornadoes and Hail in South Carolina, March 27, 1994

This tornado crossed the Georgia/South Carolina line near Tallulah Falls at 1515 EST, hit the Long Creek Community at 1519 EST and then moved across much of the northern part of the county, including the area south of Mountain Rest and the Stumphouse Mountain area. The tornado lifted just east of Picket Post, six miles northeast of Walhalla. It was an F3 storm with a one mile width upon crossing the border, but weakened to the upper ranges of F2 for the remainder of its path. Storm width gradually narrowed to 1/4 mile. Property damage was about $3 million and crop damage to apple orchards and timber another $2.5 million. Nearly 60 homes in Oconee County were destroyed or severely damaged. The lifting of this tornado apparently ended the path of the tornado which struck Piedmont, Alabama. A second supercell moved from Georgia into Oconee County 30 to 45 minutes after the first. No tornadoes touched down from this storm in Oconee County but high winds caused limited damage under the wall cloud structure of the storm. Large hail fell along both storm tracks.

The supercell that caused the Oconee County tornado continued near the mountains across northern Pickens and Greenville Counties then moved into the foothills. Large hail fell along the track and another tornado was generated near the Greenville/Spartanburg County border. This second tornado formed near Gowensville in Greenville County at 1640 EST, entered Spartanburg County at 1641 EST, and tracked across extreme northern Spartanburg County to the Arrowood Community northwest of Chesnee. Damage resulted to outbuildings, roofs of homes, trees, and powerlines. Storm intensity reached the lower range of F1 before moving into southern Rutherford County, North Carolina, at about 1659 EST. Large hail caused damage in Landrum just north of the tornado track.

The first severe thunderstorm moving across northern Spartanburg County generated a third tornado in South Carolina. This tornado started just northeast of Inman at 1655 EST and moved south of Chesnee into Cherokee County at 1705 EST. The tornado increased to F2 intensity just before crossing into Cleveland County, North Carolina, at 1720 EST. Near the North Carolina border two mobile homes were destroyed, a home was severely damaged and three power transmission towers were torn down. Otherwise, trees and power lines were downed near the track. A rotating wall cloud continued with the second supercell as it made its way across Pickens, Greenville, and into Spartanburg Counties. A few trees and powerlines were downed and large hail fell. Wind gusts were in the 60-mph-range for the most part under the wall cloud - there was no evidence of rotary winds along the track until later when the storm was crossing Spartanburg. (see below)

The second supercell finally yielded its first tornado in Lyman where damage was primarily to trees and power lines then moved into the northern sections of Spartanburg. Two separate commercial areas were hit with roofing torn off some buildings and substantial damage to a power substation. Trees and power lines were torn down. The tornado skipped along to Cowpens where it crossed into Cherokee County at 1745 EST. The tornado continued on for 15 miles to the Blacksburg area. Four people were injured in cars hit by falling trees. Downed trees and power lines occurred at Cowpens and the funnel was clearly observed by numerous people in downtown Gaffney. By this time damage was restricted to downed trees, some large limbs falling on homes and typical power outages associated with this level of damage. There was a substantial amount of hail damage in and around Gaffney. All evidence indicates the tornado dissipated around Blacksburg. A third severe thunderstorm moved into northern Oconee County causing hail damage.

Trees Down, power outages, and considerable other minor damage.

Downburst winds during a thunderstorm destroyed a mobile home, damaged a nearby residence and destroyed outbuilding and felled trees on C.E. Stewart Road about 7 miles WSW of Clover.

Trees down, considerable minor damage to roofs, chimneys, etc. Heaviest damage immediately northeast of Clover.

Trees down, 2 barns destroyed, power lines down.

Tornado developed near North Carolina/South Carolina border and moved into North Carolina within a short distance from where Highway SC49 crosses North Carolina line at 1844 EST. One mobile home in the Lake Wylie Mobile Home Park along Stateline Road was completely destroyed with debris scattered in a cyclonic pattern. Several other mobile homes were heavily damaged, an outbuilding completely disappeared, many trees were downed and one person injured. The tornado apparently developed from the same storm that earlier had caused spotty damage across the County.

A fourth severe thunderstorm affected Oconee County primarily causing large hail.