Tornadoes · United States · South Carolina

2004 tornadoes in South Carolina

85 tornadoes touched down in South Carolina in 2004, 431 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 33.

2003 2005 The whole country in 2004

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in South Carolina in 2004

June 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 129:00 PM EDTF1Allendale3.0150

June 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 158:21 AM EDTF0Beaufort0.150

June 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 251:00 PM EDTF0Anderson0.525$2,000
June 259:00 PM EDTF0Anderson4.050

August 12 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1212:12 PM EDTF1Fairfield2.0440$300,000
August 121:45 PM EDTF1Chesterfield6.0440$800,000
August 122:00 PM EDTF0Horry1.025
August 122:20 PM EDTF0Marlboro1.725
August 1211:55 PM EDTF1Charleston3.0100

August 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1410:05 AM EDTF0Berkeley3.550

August 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 293:00 PM EDTF1Marlboro1.0300$10,000

September 6 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 61:05 PM EDTF0Colleton0.540
September 62:40 PM EDTF1Beaufort1.075
September 62:55 PM EDTF1Jasper2.01001

September 7 42 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 73:20 AM EDTF0Calhoun0.5100
September 73:30 AM EDTF0Jasper0.550
September 73:55 AM EDTF0Dorchester0.540
September 74:46 AM EDTF2Richland2.54403$100,000
September 75:20 AM EDTF0Allendale2.040
September 75:25 AM EDTF1Richland1.0200$300,000
September 75:40 AM EDTF0Allendale1.040
September 76:17 AM EDTF0Richland0.5100
September 76:35 AM EDTF0Barnwell0.5100
September 77:14 AM EDTF0Aiken0.5100
September 77:28 AM EDTF2Sumter4.05003$1.7 million
September 77:35 AM EDTF1Jasper4.075
September 78:40 AM EDTF1Lee4.0440
September 79:10 AM EDTF0Lee0.5100
September 79:18 AM EDTF0Kershaw3.0400
September 79:35 AM EDTF1Kershaw5.0440
September 79:48 AM EDTF0Calhoun0.5100
September 79:48 AM EDTF0Clarendon0.5100
September 710:03 AM EDTF1Sumter3.0400
September 710:40 AM EDTF1Lancaster2.0300
September 711:15 AM EDTF3Kershaw7.08801
September 710:43 AM CDTF2York to NC3.0200$10,000
September 712:35 PM EDTF0Darlington1.350$70,000
September 712:40 PM EDTF1Chesterfield8.0440
September 712:45 PM EDTF0Orangeburg0.5100
September 71:10 PM EDTF0Darlington0.750$10,000
September 72:05 PM EDTF1Marlboro5.0100$250,000
September 72:27 PM EDTF1Marlboro0.325$60,000
September 73:11 PM EDTF1Darlington0.130$10,000
September 73:30 PM EDTF1Allendale4.5100
September 73:50 PM EDTF0Chesterfield1.0150
September 74:00 PM EDTF0Fairfield16.0400
September 74:20 PM EDTF0Bamberg0.5100
September 75:45 PM EDTF0Florence1.030$2,000
September 77:11 PM EDTF0Dillon1.330$100,000
September 77:30 PM EDTF0Anderson1.250$2,000
September 78:15 PM EDTF1Chester0.550$100,000
September 78:23 PM EDTF2Chesterfield7.04405
September 79:05 PM EDTF0Marlboro0.525$10,000
September 79:05 PM EDTF0Allendale0.540
September 79:20 PM EDTF0Allendale1.050
September 712:00 AM EDTF1Union4.0225$50,000

September 16 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 162:56 PM EDTF0Aiken6.075
September 164:00 PM EDTF1Saluda6.04001
September 165:12 PM EDTF0Laurens0.520
September 166:25 PM EDTF0Anderson0.115
September 166:35 PM EDTF0Oconee5.050$2,000
September 166:40 PM EDTF0Anderson0.110
September 166:55 PM EDTF1Oconee4.550$70,000

September 27 17 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 275:45 AM EDTF0Hampton0.540
September 278:30 AM EDTF0Berkeley1.0150
September 2710:23 AM EDTF1Clarendon3.04004
September 2712:05 PM EDTF1Florence0.430$20,000
September 2712:54 PM EDTF1Georgetown1.630$30,000
September 271:39 PM EDTF0Aiken3.0100
September 272:03 PM EDTF0Lee6.080
September 272:25 PM EDTF1Marion1.530$30,000
September 272:30 PM EDTF0Chesterfield3.0120
September 272:52 PM EDTF0Dillon0.225
September 273:15 PM EDTF0Marlboro0.125
September 274:39 PM EDTF0Saluda2.080
September 275:08 PM EDTF1Newberry3.0220
September 275:30 PM EDTF0Lexington1.080
September 275:44 PM EDTF0Newberry3.0100
September 279:08 PM EDTF2Fairfield2.0220113
September 2710:15 PM EDTF1Cherokee0.850$90,000

November 24 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 242:25 PM ESTF0Union0.550
November 243:03 PM ESTF0Aiken0.580

December 10 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 104:50 AM ESTF3Orangeburg1.5801
December 105:00 AM ESTF2Calhoun0.5601
December 105:30 AM ESTF0Sumter0.240

Crossed into South Carolina

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into South Carolina. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 610:02 AM CDTF1Chatham, GA to SC6.0300

Nearby

Every tornado in South Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in South CarolinaThe live radar over South Carolina

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.