Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, March 8, 1995

A strong cold front moving through the area generated high winds in the mountainous section of Greenville County downing a number of trees and power lines. Power remained out until the next morning in some areas. A line of thunderstorms developed along the front. A very small tornado (possibly a "gustnado") was spotted by air traffic controllers six miles southeast of the Greenville Downtown Airport. A weak tornado touched down in a wooded area with only tree damage reported. Some siding was blown off a house in Taylors and significant thunderstorm winds occurred with the same part of the line at Lake Robinson north of Greer. A spotter reported wind gusts to 80 mph with a number of trees downed. Weaker wind damage was reported around Landrum where a few trees were downed and a railroad sign was broken off. A stronger tornado (strong F0/weak F1) was generated southwest of Greenwood from a weakly rotating thunderstorm. The tornado touched down along Highway 10 destroying one mobile home and damaging several others - along with some homes. The tornado lifted after a one-mile track otherwise the storm could have moved near downtown Greenwood. The tornado track was almost due north while the parent thunderstorm moved northeast. The thunderstorm rapidly collapsed producing strong damaging winds in an area northeast of town - from near Coronaca over to Lake Greenwood. A couple of carports were torn from houses, a number of trees were downed, and power lines were taken down. A home under construction was severely damaged at the lake. Across the lake in Laurens County, the only evidence of damage was large tree limbs that were blown out.