A funnel cloud forms behind Ingle’s in Pickens.
(Still from video shot by Wayne Miller)
The storm reached windspeeds of 100 mph
PICKENS — The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed an EF1 tornado with 100 mph winds touched down in Pickens County on Friday.
NWS surveyors said crews were out Monday assessing the damage.
According to NWS, the Enhanced Fujita Scale, or EF Scale, which became operational on Feb. 1, 2007, is used to assign a tornado a ‘rating’ based on estimated wind speeds and related damage. When tornado-related damage is surveyed, it is compared to a list of Damage Indicators and Degrees of Damage which help estimate better the range of wind speeds the tornado likely produced. From that, a rating (from EF0 to EF5) is assigned.
The EF Scale was revised from the original Fujita Scale to reflect better examinations of tornado damage surveys so as to align wind speeds more closely with associated storm damage. The new scale has to do with how most structures are designed.
Officials said severe storms were widespread across the Upstate, with Pickens County having the greatest impact.
According to the NWS, the EF1 tornado touched down 4 miles NNW of Pickens, off of Hagood Mill Road. Latest reports from the survey estimated a path length of 0.56 miles and a width of 150 yards.
Total time on the ground was 4 minutes, from 4:16 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. on Friday.
The EF1 tornado traveled NE causing extensive tree damage (such as trees being uprooted and snapped,) as well as damaging the roofs of several mobile homes.
As the tornado neared the end of its path and began to lift, structural damage was found at a church off of East Preston McDaniel Road.
More than 3,000 residents in Western North Carolina and South Carolina were without power due to the storm, officials said.
No injuries or deaths were reported.
Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.