Tornadoes · United States · South Carolina

2020 tornadoes in South Carolina

61 tornadoes touched down in South Carolina in 2020, 281 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 8 people and injured 88. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2019 2021 The whole country in 2020

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in South Carolina in 2020

January 11 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 118:04 PM ESTEF0Anderson0.430$1,000
January 118:06 PM ESTEF0Anderson0.350
January 118:40 PM ESTEF0Anderson0.7160$1,000
January 118:40 PM ESTEF0Greenwood2.450$1,000
January 118:45 PM ESTEF0Greenwood0.530
January 1110:33 PM ESTEF2Kershaw0.6150

January 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 1312:45 PM ESTEF0Horry1.245$200,000

February 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 610:21 AM ESTEF1Spartanburg10.1100$10 million
February 62:52 PM ESTEF1Aiken1.175

April 13 27 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 133:18 AM EDTEF1Oconee4.0400
April 133:21 AM EDTEF3Seneca tornado16.71,00015$100 million
April 133:41 AM EDTEF2Pickens8.02008$300,000
April 133:44 AM EDTEF0Pickens7.470
April 134:01 AM EDTEF0Greenville0.730$20,000
April 135:21 AM EDTEF3Barnwell37.9800
April 135:33 AM EDTEF3Barnwell8.550
April 135:43 AM EDTEF3Barnwell35.777027
April 135:49 AM EDTEF3Barnwell1.440
April 135:50 AM EDTEF3Barnwell5.4800
April 135:53 AM EDTEF1Richland4.980
April 136:04 AM EDTEF0Allendale5.8300
April 136:10 AM EDTEF4Hampton County tornado23.71,300560
April 136:25 AM EDTEF2Orangeburg10.2700
April 136:39 AM EDTEF1Colleton1.450
April 136:46 AM EDTEF1Colleton3.1100
April 136:47 AM EDTEF1Colleton17.3500
April 137:10 AM EDTEF1Dorchester2.3150
April 137:38 AM EDTEF3Berkeley5.74006
April 137:51 AM EDTEF0Berkeley0.9200
April 138:00 AM EDTEF1Berkeley2.5400
April 138:13 AM EDTEF1Georgetown4.840$100,000
April 138:15 AM EDTEF1Georgetown11.050$75,000
April 138:15 AM EDTEF2Colleton1.2140
April 138:28 AM EDTEF1Charleston1.3120
April 138:33 AM EDTEF1Charleston0.360
April 138:36 AM EDTEF2Georgetown4.650$20,000

April 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 259:10 PM EDTEF2Greenville5.5400$5.0 million

April 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 296:18 PM EDTEF0Anderson0.630

May 5 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 56:32 PM EDTEF1Chester4.6100$25,000
May 56:46 PM EDTEF2Chester14.0200$100,000

May 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 2011:47 AM EDTEF1Charleston0.8300

May 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 223:28 PM EDTEF1Cherokee12.7200

June 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 108:29 PM EDTEF0Laurens0.430$10,000

August 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 38:20 PM EDTEF0Georgetown0.2301$100,000

September 17 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 177:58 AM EDTUnratedCalhoun6.9150
September 177:59 AM EDTUnratedSumter2.5100
September 179:13 AM EDTEF1Dorchester0.6150
September 179:49 AM EDTEF0Orangeburg0.2100
September 1710:17 AM EDTEF0Clarendon0.9100
September 1711:14 AM EDTEF0Clarendon0.625
September 1711:43 AM EDTEF0Sumter5.950
September 1712:06 PM EDTEF0Calhoun1.025
September 1712:45 PM EDTEF0Calhoun0.325
September 171:19 PM EDTEF0Sumter6.325
September 172:45 PM EDTEF0Florence5.025$50,000
September 173:21 PM EDTEF0Florence2.220$1,000

September 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 253:24 PM EDTEF0Horry0.225$3,000

October 11 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 113:20 PM EDTEF1Dillon0.540$30,000
October 114:19 PM EDTEF1Horry0.3301$150,000
October 114:31 PM EDTEF0Horry2.320$20,000

December 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 247:30 PM ESTEF1Clarendon0.350

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
April 134:58 AM CDTEF1Screven, GA to SC5.9200

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.