Tornadoes · United States · South Carolina

2008 tornadoes in South Carolina

56 tornadoes touched down in South Carolina in 2008, 250 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

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

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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.
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 2008

March 4 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
March 4	4:23 PM EST	EF1	Newberry	2.7	60
March 4	4:42 PM EST	EF0	Lancaster	1.5	40
March 4	7:19 PM EST	EF0	Aiken	20.1	60

March 15 32 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 15	3:43 PM EDT	EF0	Abbeville	0.5	20
March 15	4:10 PM EDT	EF0	Fairfield	4.6	80
March 15	4:20 PM EDT	EF1	Kershaw	19.6	80
March 15	4:25 PM EDT	EF3	Newberry	27.5	1,320	2	$10,000
March 15	4:30 PM EDT	EF2	Kershaw	23.0	660
March 15	4:34 PM EDT	EF1	McCormick	11.5	440
March 15	4:47 PM EDT	EF1	Chesterfield	7.0	110		$25,000
March 15	5:02 PM EDT	EF2	McCormick	32.7	660
March 15	5:22 PM EDT	EF2	Kershaw	6.9	1,230	2
March 15	5:33 PM EDT	EF0	Kershaw	0.5	100
March 15	5:37 PM EDT	EF0	Aiken	0.5	100
March 15	5:41 PM EDT	EF2	Lexington	8.3	440
March 15	5:43 PM EDT	EF1	Richland	3.7	660
March 15	5:48 PM EDT	EF0	Dillon	1.4	75		$50,000
March 15	6:10 PM EDT	EF2	Calhoun	24.4	440
March 15	6:11 PM EDT	EF0	Edgefield	3.7	220
March 15	6:18 PM EDT	EF2	Aiken	25.5	1,760
March 15	6:25 PM EDT	EF1	Florence	13.4	100	3	$605,000
March 15	6:52 PM EDT	EF2	Lee	14.1	440
March 15	6:54 PM EDT	EF0	Barnwell	0.6	100
March 15	6:58 PM EDT	EF1	Clarendon	8.6	220
March 15	7:05 PM EDT	EF1	Bamberg	2.0	220
March 15	7:12 PM EDT	EF2	Allendale	18.0	1,320		$2.3 million
March 15	7:13 PM EDT	EF0	Horry	0.3	25		$5,000
March 15	7:17 PM EDT	EF1	Williamsburg	2.5	75
March 15	7:25 PM EDT	EF1	Bamberg	3.8	660
March 15	7:29 PM EDT	EF3	Orangeburg	10.1	1,320
March 15	7:36 PM EDT	EF1	Williamsburg	4.0	75		$200,000
March 15	7:54 PM EDT	EF0	Georgetown	0.0	20
March 15	8:08 PM EDT	EF1	Dorchester	2.2	40		$218,000
March 15	8:25 PM EDT	EF1	Berkeley	0.6	180	7	$150,000
March 15	8:36 PM EDT	EF1	Berkeley	1.2	135		$200,000

April 4 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 4	6:24 PM EDT	EF1	Fairfield	6.5	80
April 4	8:42 PM EDT	EF0	Newberry	4.6	60			$10,000

May 11 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 11	4:09 AM EDT	EF0	Edgefield	4.0	80
May 11	4:31 AM EDT	EF0	Aiken	3.5	60
May 11	5:28 AM EDT	EF0	Aiken	1.0	50
May 11	6:07 AM EDT	EF0	Aiken	7.8	50
May 11	8:30 AM EDT	EF0	Hampton	0.3	25
May 11	6:12 PM EDT	EF2	Charleston	12.0	1,760	$1.2 million

May 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 20	5:07 PM EDT	EF1	Bamberg	13.3	800

June 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	4:58 PM EDT	EF0	Berkeley	0.3	75		1	$20,000

June 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 29	3:35 PM EDT	EF0	Charleston	0.5	1,000			$35,000

August 26 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 26	12:18 PM EDT	EF0	Chester	0.1	20
August 26	2:36 PM EDT	EF1	Oconee	6.8	30
August 26	3:20 PM EDT	EF0	Pickens	0.1	20
August 26	3:35 PM EDT	EF2	Anderson	5.5	30
August 26	4:05 PM EDT	EF1	Greenville	6.1	30	$50,000
August 26	6:42 PM EDT	EF0	Fairfield	4.8	60	$5,000
August 26	7:12 PM EDT	EF0	Chester	0.1	20

November 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 14	10:50 PM EST	EF1	Calhoun	8.1	200			$510,000
November 14	12:50 AM EST	EF2	Dillon	1.5	40			$325,000

December 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 11	1:26 PM EST	EF0	Newberry	3.5	40			$4,000

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.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 26	1:18 PM CDT	EF1	Hart, GA to SC	12.4	30

Nearby

Every tornado in South Carolina since 1950 Warnings in force in South Carolina The 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.