South Carolina, 1998

Tornadoes and Flash Flood in South Carolina, May 7, 1998

May 7, 1998 · NWS GSP · 21 events in 6 counties and zones

Supercell thunderstorms developed rapidly in a highly sheared and unstable environment in east Tennessee and north Georgia during the late afternoon and tracked east-southeast. One long-lived supercell crossed into Oconee county around 5 pm EDT and tracked southeast through Anderson, Abbeville and Greenwood counties.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$110,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
21

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

Supercell thunderstorms developed rapidly in a highly sheared and unstable environment in east Tennessee and north Georgia during the late afternoon and tracked east-southeast. One long-lived supercell crossed into Oconee county around 5 pm EDT and tracked southeast through Anderson, Abbeville and Greenwood counties. Two weak tornadoes touched down briefly in Oconee county. The same storm produced a weak tornado in Abbeville and Greenwood counties as well. This supercell also produced hail up to baseball size and actually clipped extreme southern Greenville county and western Laurens with quarter to golf ball size hail. Rear flank downdraft winds blew down trees and power lines in Anderson county. Laurens county also had trees and power lines blown down from the forward flank downdraft. Heavy rain from the severe thunderstorm caused several streets and roads in and around the city of Anderson to be flooded for a couple hours. Another supercell made its way into Oconee county later in the evening and produced nickel size hail near Chickasaw Point before weakening.

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:06 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

13 hail, 4 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Oconee

When
May 7, 4:08 PM EST
Where
Oconee County, 5 mi W of Walhalla
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
50 yd
Coordinates
34.770, -83.150

Hail, Oconee

When
May 7, 4:08 PM EST
Where
Oconee County, 5 mi W of Westminster
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
34.670, -83.180

Tornado, Oconee

When
May 7, 4:25 PM EST to 4:27 PM EST
Where
Oconee County, Oakway
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$5,000
Coordinates
34.600, -83.030

A weak tornado briefly touched down in the town of Oakway downing trees and blowing roofs off outbuildings. The tornado was seen by several citizens and weather spotters.

Hail, Anderson

When
May 7, 4:54 PM EST
Where
Anderson County, Anderson
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
34.500, -82.650

Hail, Anderson

When
May 7, 5:07 PM EST
Where
Anderson County, 6 mi W of Belton
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
34.520, -82.600

Thunderstorm Wind, Anderson

When
May 7, 5:19 PM EST
Where
Anderson County, 3 mi NW of Honea Path
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Coordinates
34.480, -82.420

Hail, Anderson

When
May 7, 5:19 PM EST
Where
Anderson County, 3 mi NW of Honea Path
Measured
2.75 in hail
Coordinates
34.480, -82.420

Thunderstorm Wind, Anderson

When
May 7, 5:20 PM EST
Where
Anderson County, 5 mi S of Anderson
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Coordinates
34.430, -82.650

Tornado, Abbeville

When
May 7, 5:25 PM EST to 5:35 PM EST
Where
Abbeville County, Due West to 2 mi SSE of Due West
Rating
F0
Path length
5 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$30,000
Coordinates
34.370, -82.400

A weak short-lived tornado downed numerous large trees and blew a carport off house, and underpinning off a trailer.

Hail, Abbeville

When
May 7, 5:25 PM EST to 5:35 PM EST
Where
Abbeville County, Due West to 2 mi SSE of Due West
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
34.370, -82.400

Tornado, Greenwood

When
May 7, 5:42 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Greenwood County, Hodges to 3 mi SE of Hodges
Rating
F1
Path length
10 mi
Path width
100 yd
Property damage
$75,000
Coordinates
34.280, -82.300

A weak tornado touched down near the Abbeville county line and moved east-southeast damaging some buildings, lifting a pick-up truck off the ground and lodging it in a tree, and killing goats and pigs. Hundreds of trees were downed in the Creekside subdivision.

Hail, Greenwood

When
May 7, 5:42 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Greenwood County, Hodges to 3 mi SE of Hodges
Measured
2.75 in hail
Coordinates
34.280, -82.300

Hail, Abbeville

When
May 7, 5:45 PM EST
Where
Abbeville County, Calhoun Falls
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
34.100, -82.600

Flash Flood, Anderson

When
May 7, 6:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Anderson County, Anderson
Coordinates
34.519, -82.638 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Oconee

When
May 7, 6:29 PM EST
Where
Oconee County, 4 mi N of Walhalla
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
34.820, -83.070

Hail, Oconee

When
May 7, 6:29 PM EST
Where
Oconee County, 3 mi NW of Walhalla
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
34.800, -83.100

Hail, Anderson

When
May 7, 6:42 PM EST
Where
Anderson County, Sandy Spgs
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
34.600, -82.750

Hail, Greenville

When
May 7, 7:12 PM EST
Where
Greenville County, 5 mi S of Fork Shoals
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
34.550, -82.300

Thunderstorm Wind, Laurens

When
May 7, 7:15 PM EST
Where
Laurens County, 5 mi NW of Mt Olive
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Coordinates
34.430, -82.220

Hail, Laurens

When
May 7, 7:15 PM EST
Where
Laurens County, 5 mi NW of Mt Olive
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
34.430, -82.220

Hail, Oconee

When
May 7, 7:25 PM EST
Where
Oconee County, 6 mi WNW of Fair Play
Measured
0.88 in hail
Coordinates
34.550, -83.080

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.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Carolina, 1998Warnings in South Carolina, May 1998

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: 5646715, 5646716, 5646717, 5646817, 5646818, 5646819, 5646820, 5646821, 5646822, 5646823, 5646824, 5646825, 5646826, 5646827, 5646828, 5646829, 5646830, 5646831, 5646832, 5646833, 5646834.