Tornadoes · United States · South Carolina · 2015

EF0 tornado, Russellville, South Carolina, June 9, 2015

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Berkeley County on June 9, 2015, touching down at 2:25 PM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 9, 2015
Touchdown
2:25 PM EDT (18:25 UTC)
Lifted
2:30 PM EDT (18:30 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Berkeley County
Touchdown point
33.370, -80.000
Lift-off point
33.373, -79.998
Record number
1506091225-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A broken line of strong thunderstorms developed within an inland trough of low pressure and moved southward across southeast South Carolina. These storms produced large hail and damaging wind gusts.

Several videos and pictures were taken of a waterspout on the northern end of Lake Moultrie. The waterspout did not make landfall.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:12 UTC19:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHS
19:15 UTC20:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHS
19:43 UTC20:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryCHS
20:02 UTC20:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryCHS
20:03 UTC20:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHS
20:25 UTC23:33 UTCFlash Flood WarningCHS
21:00 UTC21:43 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHS

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:08 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), 12:00Z

6.4 hours before the tornado, 52 km from the path. June 9, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2015-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1188 joules per kilogram, CIN -32, lifted condensation level 850 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2015-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 138 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 19 knots.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1188 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2308 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
850 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), 00:00Z

5.6 hours after it, 52 km from the path. June 10, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2015-06-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 41 joules per kilogram, CIN -239, lifted condensation level 1370 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2015-06-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 12 knots.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-239 J/kg
Surface CAPE
287 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1370 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:25 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
18:25 UTCWATER SPOUT2 Ene Northern Lake MouBerkeley, SCSEVERAL VIDEOS AND PICTURES WERE TAKEN OF A WATERSPOUT ON THE NORTHERN END OF LAKE MOULTRIE. THE WATERSPOUT DID NOT MAKE LANDFALL. TIME AND LOCATION ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR.
18:31 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 Wnw Northern Lake MouBerkeley, SCBERKELEY COUNTY WARNING POINT RECEIVED A REPORT OF A FUNNEL CLOUD WHICH WAS VIEWED FROM...BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN...THE AREA OF THE CROSS GENERATING STATION.
19:24 UTCHAIL 0.255 Ne SangareeBerkeley, SCTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED PEA-SIZED HAIL NEAR 17-A IN THE CYPRESS GARDENS AREA.
19:57 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse Goose CreekBerkeley, SCTREE DOWN OFF OF FOSTER CREEK ROAD IN THE AREA OF HANAHAN PLANTATION SUBDIVISION.
20:14 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nne WandoBerkeley, SCTREE AND POWER LINES DOWN ON A MOBILE HOME ON HIGHWAY 41.
20:18 UTCHAIL 0.253 Wsw LadsonDorchester, SCFACEBOOK USER REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL NEAR THE GRAND OAKS PRESERVE NEIGHBORHOOD
20:27 UTCHEAVY RAIN 01 Ssw Goose CreekCharleston, SCSTANDING WATER NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF RIVERS AVENUE AT OTRANTO BLVD. MOTORISTS CONTINUE TO PASS THROUGH.
20:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E LadsonCharleston, SCSOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROL REPORTS A TREE DOWN ALONG I-26 NEAR MILE MARKER 205 WESTBOUND.
20:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse Goose CreekBerkeley, SCTREE DOWN OFF OF FOSTER CREEK ROAD IN THE AREA OF HANAHAN PLANTATION SUBDIVISION.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 S HugerBerkeley, SCLAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTS TREE DOWN IN ROADWAY ON SC-41 NEAR CAINHOY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
20:41 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W HanahanCharleston, SCA 6 TO 8 FL LONG OAK TREE LIMB ABOUT 6 INCHES IN DIAMETER WAS IN THE ROADWAY ON STALL ROAD NEAR MIDLAND PARK ROAD. TIME APPROXIMATED USING TIME OF NEARBY KCHS PEAK WIND GUST.
21:04 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 Se Goose CreekBerkeley, SCWARNING POINT REPORTS ROADS WILL BE CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING ON HARBOR LAKE RD BETWEEN LIGHTHOUSE DR AND PINESHADOW DR. MULTIPLE CARS FLOODED AND WATER COMING UP TO BUILDINGS.
21:25 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 Ssw Goose CreekCharleston, SCSEVERAL CARS FLOODED DUE TO HIGH FLOOD WATERS NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF RIVERS AVE AND OTRANTO.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in South CarolinaEvery tornado in South Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in South Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 9, 2015

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 92:41 PM EDTEF0Schenectady, NY0.225

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.