Tornadoes · United States · South Carolina

2024 tornadoes in South Carolina

48 tornadoes touched down in South Carolina in 2024, 200 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2023 2025 The whole country in 2024

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 2024

January 9 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 92:10 PM ESTEF1Lexington3.31501
January 92:46 PM ESTEF2Bamberg2.1500$1.8 million

January 27 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 273:48 PM ESTEF1Richland0.990
January 278:18 PM ESTEF1Saluda1.6150
January 278:22 PM ESTEF0Saluda1.3100

May 9 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 92:46 AM EDTEF0Newberry3.0150
May 93:12 AM EDTEF0Fairfield0.350
May 93:31 AM EDTEF1Fairfield1.9250

May 14 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 144:39 PM EDTEF0Marlboro1.6150$2,000
May 146:10 PM EDTEF1Marion2.080$200,000

August 5 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 59:35 PM EDTEF1Charleston2.9300
August 510:08 PM EDTEF1Colleton0.690
August 510:55 PM EDTEF0Charleston1.2150
August 512:14 AM EDTEF0Charleston3.8200
August 512:41 AM EDTEF0Beaufort0.860
August 512:53 AM EDTEF0Beaufort2.160
August 51:33 AM EDTEF1Charleston0.775

August 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 62:53 AM EDTEF1Berkeley3.91502

September 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 256:39 PM EDTEF0Greenville0.250$5,000

September 26 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 267:03 AM EDTEF0Beaufort6.5150
September 267:20 AM EDTEF0Beaufort1.3100
September 2610:39 AM EDTEF1Orangeburg13.41,100
September 2612:52 PM EDTEF1Bamberg7.8150
September 2610:17 PM EDTEF0Clarendon1.350
September 2612:33 AM EDTEF1Orangeburg33.4800
September 261:15 AM EDTEF0Orangeburg13.8500
September 261:29 AM EDTEF0Beaufort3.9175
September 261:52 AM EDTEF1Calhoun13.7710

September 27 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 274:00 AM EDTEF0Charleston2.090
September 274:06 AM EDTEF0Charleston2.1125
September 274:17 AM EDTEF0Orangeburg17.0800
September 274:20 AM EDTEF0Charleston2.090
September 274:40 AM EDTEF1Charleston2.5150
September 274:56 AM EDTEF0Orangeburg1.5180
September 275:32 AM EDTEF0Sumter4.61,000$45,000
September 275:36 AM EDTEF0Clarendon0.350
September 276:04 AM EDTEF0Georgetown2.420
September 276:53 AM EDTUnratedGeorgetown5.350
September 277:23 AM EDTEF0Marion3.920
September 277:30 AM EDTEF0Darlington6.720

December 29 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 297:55 AM ESTEF0Spartanburg1.730
December 298:14 AM ESTEF0Union2.230
December 298:27 AM ESTEF0Union7.050
December 298:28 AM ESTEF0Union2.225
December 298:35 AM ESTEF0Fairfield11.2150
December 298:52 AM ESTEF0Fairfield3.3200
December 298:56 AM ESTEF1Fairfield4.7250
December 299:09 AM ESTEF0York3.050

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.