South Carolina, 2020

Tornado and Damaging Wind in South Carolina, September 17, 2020

September 17, 2020 · NWS CHS · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Tropical Cyclone Sally made landfall along the northeast Gulf Coast and began to track inland into the Southeast region in the early morning hours. Scattered to numerous embedded thunderstorms developed and moved through portions of southeast South Carolina, with some producing damaging wind gusts and even a brief tornado.

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
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 CHS wrote it up.

Tropical Cyclone Sally made landfall along the northeast Gulf Coast and began to track inland into the Southeast region in the early morning hours. Scattered to numerous embedded thunderstorms developed and moved through portions of southeast South Carolina, with some producing damaging wind gusts and even a brief tornado.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 17, 3:40 AM EST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 3:40 AM EST, 35 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 17, 3:42 AM EST, 33 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 17, 3:21 AM EST, 54 minutes before
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Local storm report, Sep 17, 3:49 AM EST, 26 minutes before
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Local storm report, Sep 17, 3:52 AM EST, 23 minutes before
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The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jasper

When
September 17, 4:15 AM EST to 4:16 AM EST
Where
Jasper County, 0.9 mi NW of Grahamville
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
32.480, -80.980

Jasper County dispatch reported trees and power lines down in the Ridgeland area including Sisters Ferry Road at McCormack Avenue, Big Branch Road at Pinelevel Church Road, and Owens Street at 3rd Avenue.

Tornado, Dorchester

When
September 17, 8:13 AM EST to 8:14 AM EST
Where
Dorchester County, 1.52 mi N of Reevesville to 2.07 mi N of Reevesville
Rating
EF1
Path length
0.6 mi
Path width
150 yd
Reported by
NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates
33.222, -80.633

A National Weather Service storm survey team determined that EF-1 tornado impacted an area near Reevesville in Dorchester County. The tornado began near a tree line east of St. Mark Bowman Road. The tornado tracked north across a tree farm on Cockadoo Farm Road. Damage on the farm consisted of dozens of snapped or uprooted trees and overturned hundreds of potted trees and shrubs. Minor damage was observed to siding and shingles on a few homes between Cockadoo Farm Road and Neighborhood Drive. The tornado track ended in a wooded area north of Neighborhood Drive.

What these are

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Carolina, 2020Warnings in South Carolina, September 2020

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 921380, 921489.