EF1 tornado, Edisto Beach, South Carolina, August 5, 2024

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

August 5, 2024

Touchdown

10:08 PM EDT (02:08 UTC)

Lifted

10:11 PM EDT (02:11 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

0.6 miles (0.9 km)

Path width

90 yards (82 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Colleton County

Touchdown point

32.479, -80.331

Lift-off point

32.484, -80.338

Record number

2408052008-01

17 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.

• Plywood shingle wood siding porch
• 2x6 roof lifted thrown 40 yards no evidence of Hurricane straps
• Hurricane straps still on house
• Came on between 2602 and 2603 then hit 2701 and lifted

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

Debby first developed into a tropical storm about 100 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida late afternoon on August 3rd, then gradually strengthened to a strong tropical storm while tracking north across the eastern Gulf of Mexico on August 4th. Debby then reached hurricane force strength late on August 4th about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, before continuing a north-northeast track across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and eventually making landfall near the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 1 Hurricane during the morning of August 5th. Debby continued inland and weakened to a tropical storm while tracking northeast across northern Florida later on August 5th, then continued a gradual weakening trend while tracking across Southeast Georgia as a tropical storm (45 mph) before slowly emerging off the Southeast Coast at tropical storm strength (40 mph) near Tybee Island, Georgia on August 6th. Debby then tracked east and farther offshore early August 7th, then turned north and became a strong tropical storm (60 mph) over the Gulf Stream later that morning, before taking a more north-northwest track back toward the Southeast Coast and making landfall near Awendaw/Bulls Bay, South Carolina as a tropical storm (50 mph) around 2 AM on August 8th. A minimum surface pressure of 994 mb was recorded at Sullivan���s Island (XSLV), South Carolina prior to Debby making landfall. After landfall, Debby continued on a north-northwest track across South Carolina as a tropical storm into mid day August 8th, before weakening to a depression later that day and continuing a north path across North Carolina and Virginia into early August 9th. ||Across Southeast South Carolina, the main impacts associated with Debby included flash flooding due to widespread heavy rainfall, several nighttime tornadoes within rainbands and scattered tree damage associated with near tropical storm force winds. ||Prolonged heavy rainfall across Southeast South Carolina brought widespread flash flooding on August 5th and 6th, additional areas of flash flooding on August 7th, 8th and 9th, along with considerable and prolonged flooding of creeks, streams and main stem rivers for several days thereafter. Numerous homes and roads were flooded, leading to rescues and/or evacuations. Storm total rainfall amounts from August 4th to August 9th generally ranged between 4 to 22 inches with highest amounts across the Quad County Area (Berkeley, Dorchester, Charleston, Colleton) and particularly along a stretch from Summerville, Ridgeville, St George and Harleyville, South Carolina to Moncks Corner, South Carolina. A peak storm total rainfall of 22.02 inches was recorded by a CoCoRaHS observer approximately 6.6 miles southwest of Moncks Corner, South Carolina. A daily record rainfall of 4.71 inches was also set on August 6th at the Charleston International Airport (KCHS). Despite a large amount of rain and flash flooding, storm surge/coastal flooding did not lead to mentionable impacts locally. The highest water level at the Charleston (CHTS1) tide gauge was 1.06 ft MHHW during the evening of August 5th. No injuries or fatalities occurred with flash flooding/flooding.||Several rainbands associated with Debby brought 8 tornadoes (4 EF1 and 4 EF0) across coastal counties of Southeast South Carolina during the night of August 5th into early August 6th, causing damage to numerous trees and many structures. An EF1 tornado in Berkeley County caused 2 minor injuries when a car was flipped by the tornado. A total of 2 minor injuries and no fatalities occurred with tornadoes. ||Tropical storm force winds/gusts produced scattered tree damage and communication/power outages across several counties. One minor injury occurred when a tree fell down on a vehicle in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Strongest winds were recorded across coastal areas and nearby coastal waters. The highest sustained tropical storm wind (39 knots) and highest tropical storm wind gust (55 knots) occurred at Folly Beach South End (XFSE), South Carolina. Across nearby coastal waters, the highest sustained tropical storm wind (44 knots) and highest tropical storm wind gust (51 knots) occurred at the Edisto Buoy (41004). A total of 1 minor injury and no fatalities occurred by tropical cyclone winds.

A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team confirmed an EF1 tornado with an estimated maximum wind speed of 97 mph in Edisto Island, South Carolina occurring from 835 PM to 845 PM EST. The tornado started in Colleton County, then briefly tracked across a small portion of Charleston County, then briefly returned back into Colleton County before crossing into Charleston County again and ending.||The first segment of the tornado, which originated in an outer rainband associated with Tropical Storm Debby over the nearshore Atlantic waters, moved onshore at Edisto Beach, South Carolina near the intersection of Highway 174 and Palmetto Boulevard. At the location the tornado moved onshore, it removed roof decking, roof shingles and siding to several homes. The Enmarket gas station also had some roof damage and some air conditioning units thrown from the roof. The tornado then moved north-northwest over a marsh region, snapping many hardwood trees while leaving Colleton County and entering Charleston County at a latitude/longitude of 32.513 N, 80.313 W.

A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team confirmed an EF1 tornado with an estimated maximum wind speed of 97 mph in Edisto Island, South Carolina occurring from 835 PM to 845 PM EST. The tornado started in Colleton County, then briefly tracked across a small portion of Charleston County, then briefly returned back into Colleton County before crossing into Charleston County once more and quickly ending. ||Along the tornado's third segment, it entered Colleton County from Charleston County at a latitude/longitude of 32.517 N, 80.320 W, taking a northwest path across a mix of land/marsh areas and eventually reaching another section of Palmetto Road, likely causing additional damage to structures and trees along its path before continuing on a northwest path and departing Colleton County into Charleston County at a latitude/longitude of 32.524 N, 80.336 W.

A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team confirmed an EF1 tornado with an estimated maximum wind speed of 90 mph in Edisto Island, South Carolina occurring from 908 PM to 911 PM EST.||The brief tornado, associated with an outer rainband from Tropical Storm Debby, moved onshore along the south end of Edisto Island, South Carolina near the 2700 Block of Point Street, where it snapped and twisted some small trees and removed asphalt shingles to at least one home. The worst damage was on Palmetto Boulevard, where one home had a complete collapse of the porch and a significant portion of the roof removed. The tornado continued to move rapidly northwestward crossing around the 2700 Block of Myrtle Street, where it did some minor damage to the facia of at least one home. Just northwest, near the 2900 block of Lee Street, at least one home had a corner of the roof removed. The tornado then moved into the southern portion of the Plantation Golf Course where it dissipated.

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

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

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:40 UTC and running to 04:54 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:46 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.

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:05 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 2024 tornado in South CarolinaEvery tornado in South Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in South Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

20 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.