South Carolina, 1998Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, September 3, 1998
September 3, 1998 · NWS CHS · 13 events in 7 counties and zones
8 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 13
- Property damage
- $3.2 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 13
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
8 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jasper
- When
- September 3, 5:45 AM EST to 6:00 AM EST
- Where
- Jasper County, Countywide
- Measured
- 55 kt (63 mph)
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.470, -81.020
Numerous trees and power lines down. One car was blown off the road near Ridgeland.
Thunderstorm Wind, Beaufort
- When
- September 3, 5:50 AM EST to 6:05 AM EST
- Where
- Beaufort County, Beaufort
- Measured
- 55 kt (63 mph)
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.430, -80.680
Tornado, Beaufort
- When
- September 3, 7:28 AM EST to 7:45 AM EST
- Where
- Beaufort County, Frogmore to 8 mi E of Beaufort
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 15 mi
- Path width
- 75 yd
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 4 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $360,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.350, -80.430
Thirteen homes were destroyed and another thirteen were heavily damaged, most of them were mobile homes. One mobile home was flipped in the air and smashed to the ground where a 66 -year old female was crushed to death. Numerous trees were snapped off 5 to 15 feet above the ground with others uprooted. The worse of the damage was concentrated in an area approximately 2.5 to 3 miles long across Fripp Island to near Morgan Island. The tornado then crossed the St Helena Sound and moved into Colleton County.
Tornado, Colleton
- When
- September 3, 7:45 AM EST to 7:50 AM EST
- Where
- Colleton County, Bennetts Pt to 4 mi S of Bennetts Pt
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 3 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.480, -80.420
Tornado damage was confined mostly to wooded marsh area which uprooted or snapped off trees.
Thunderstorm Wind, Colleton
- When
- September 3, 8:14 AM EST to 8:25 AM EST
- Where
- Colleton County, Central Portion
- Measured
- 55 kt (63 mph)
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.900, -80.700
Numerous trees and power lines down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Charleston
- When
- September 3, 9:45 AM EST
- Where
- Charleston County, North Charleston
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 32.880, -79.980
Large limbs and power lines down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jasper
- When
- September 3, 10:38 AM EST to 10:50 AM EST
- Where
- Jasper County, Hardeeville to Tillman
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 32.280, -81.080
Trees and power lines down.
High Wind, Beaufort
- When
- September 3, 10:45 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Beaufort forecast zone
- Measured
- 47 kt (54 mph)
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Three boats at the Port Royal marina sank as they were battered throughout the day from four to five foot swells generated by the strong winds associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Earl.
Thunderstorm Wind, Hampton
- When
- September 3, 11:10 AM EST to 11:15 AM EST
- Where
- Hampton County, Furman to 3 mi E of Furman
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.650, -81.170
Trees, large limbs and power lines down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Berkeley
- When
- September 3, 12:15 PM EST to 12:20 PM EST
- Where
- Berkeley County, Goose Creek to 5 mi N of Goose Creek
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 33.050, -80.030
Tornado, Colleton
- When
- September 3, 12:28 PM EST
- Where
- Colleton County, Green Pond to 7 mi SE of Green Pond
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 40 yd
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.630, -80.570
Tornado took a roof off a barn and snapped off or uprooted several trees on a private plantation.
Tornado, Berkeley
- When
- September 3, 12:30 PM EST to 12:45 PM EST
- Where
- Berkeley County, Moncks Corner to 2 mi NE of Moncks Corner
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 7 mi
- Path width
- 430 yd
- Injuries
- 9 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.8 million
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.180, -80.000
Seventy-three (73) homes were damaged, fourteen mobile homes destroyed and seven (7) homes destroyed. The Fairlawn sobdivision, just southeast of Moncks corner was hardest hit.
Thunderstorm Wind, Dorchester
- When
- September 3, 1:00 PM EST to 1:10 PM EST
- Where
- Dorchester County, Summerville to 5 mi E of Ridgeville
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.970, -80.250
- 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.
- 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.
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Tornado in Georgia, September 3, 19987 injured · $435,000 · F2 · 1 event
- Tornado in Florida, September 3, 19982 injured · $500,000 · F2 · 1 event
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, September 3, 1998$1.3 million · 55 kt wind · 4 events
- Tropical Storm in Georgia, September 3 to 4, 1998$650,000 · 17 events
- Tornado in North Carolina, September 3, 1998$200,000 · F1 · 1 event
- High Wind in Georgia, September 3, 1998$100,000 · 13 events
- Tornado in North Carolina, September 3, 1998$50,000 · F0 · 1 event
- Heavy Rain in North Carolina, September 3 to 4, 1998$25,000 · 1 event
- High Wind in Florida, September 3, 1998$20,000 · 4 events
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, September 3, 1998$15,000 · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in Florida, September 3, 19981 injured · 1 event
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, September 3, 199865 kt wind · 4 events
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: 5664050, 5664051, 5664052, 5664053, 5664054, 5664055, 5664056, 5664134, 5664057, 5664058, 5664132, 5664131, 5664133.