EF1 tornado, Hendersonville to Canadys, South Carolina, May 4, 2017

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 4, 2017

Touchdown

8:15 PM EDT (00:15 UTC)

Lifted

8:25 PM EDT (00:25 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

6.0 miles (9.7 km)

Path width

125 yards (114 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Colleton County

Touchdown point

32.988, -80.649

Lift-off point

33.057, -80.586

Record number

1705041815-01

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS CHS, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 104 mph.

• several trees snapped off I need to feel good Edistow river
• Several trees were snapped near I-95 and Crosby Corner Rod
• Estimated beginning point by looking at debris ball on radar

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A strong line of thunderstorms developed in the afternoon hours well ahead of a cold front to the west. Large scale forcing was strong and the near storm environment was supportive of severe thunderstorms, with some embedded supercell thunderstorms. Damaging wind gusts occurred as well as a few tornadoes across southeast South Carolina.

A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed a EF1 tornado in Colleton County. The tornado initially touched down approximately half of a mile southwest of the Hendersonville rest area off of Interstate 95, with a north-northeast intermittent path. Along the path, the tornado crossed State Road S-15-28, snapping several trees. The tornado then continued north-northeast where it caused damage to a house and barn just north of Black Creek Road. Several snapped and uprooted trees along with a few down power poles also occurred at this location. The tornado then continued north-northeast crossing Magellan Road, where approximately 100 trees were snapped. The tornado then continued north-northeast where it produced tree and home damage along Cane Branch Road. At this point, the tornado path became continuous from the damage along Cane Branch Road until the tornado dissipated along Interstate 95. Damage to a house on Cane Branch road included a 6,500 pound boat and trailer being displaced about 30 yards from their original position, a golf cart being lifted up and moved about 20 yards, two large branches being driven through the side of the house, several windows being broken out, and significant damage to metal rooting material. In addition, the house was shifted a bit on its foundation. Numerous trees were snapped near the property of this home. The tornado then continued north-northeast toward Sniders Highway, where it produced minor roof and siding damage to a mobile home, tossed a trampoline into a tree line about 20 feet off the ground, snapped a few trees and severe damaged an old barn. The tornado then crossed Highway 63, snapping 2 power poles and causing minor roof and siding damage to a 2 story home. The tornado continued north crossing Donald Duck Point, where a mobile home was seen leaning on cinder blocks along with skirting destroyed. Two adjacent mobile homes also received minor skirt damage. The tornado then continued north, gaining strength and width while approaching Walterboro. The maximum tornado strength and width was surveyed about one fourth of a mile west of a large shopping complex along Highway 64, where approximately 1,000 trees were either snapped uprooted and severely damaged. The tornado then continued on a north-northeast track damaging dozens of trees while crossing Mount Carmel Road, before lifting approximately 2 miles of exit 57 on Interstate 95 off of Windmere Lane where damage to trees, power lines, and a large billboard occurred.

A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed an EF1 tornado near Walterboro in Colleton County. The tornado touched down just west of McLeod Road, damaging the roofing and siding of a home. The tornado then traveled north-northeast producing intermittent damage along the path. The tornado produced extensive tree damage along Allen Creek just to the west of Highway 15 where approximately 100 trees were snapped off, uprooted, or severely damaged. The tornado produced fence damage along Highway 15 just north of Allen Creek and thereafter produced intermittent tree damage along the path. The tornado crossed a corn field about 2 miles east of Canadys where a convergent wind pattern was clearly evident. The tornado snapped off, uprooted, or damaged numerous trees in this area before dissipating just south of the Edisto River.

A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed an EF1 tornado that touched down in Colleton County near Canadys and continued into Dorchester County where it eventually dissipated. The tornado touched down just north of Highway 61 and west of Sandy Landing Lane where it snapped off, uprooted, and damaged trees. The tornado then moved to the north-northeast and crossed the Edisto River into Dorchester County.

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

24 minutes of warning. NWS CHS issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:51 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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 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.

Walterboro (RBW), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:14 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in South CarolinaEvery tornado in South Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in South Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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