3 tornadoes touched down in Carolinas, including one in Alexander County, NC, NWS says
A tornado touched down in Alexander County during severe thunderstorms that swept across across the western Carolinas on Wednesday night, the National Weather Service confirmed Friday.
Two other tornadoes were previously confirmed in Pickens County, S.C., west of Greenville, from the same storm system that stayed unexpectedly just to the west and northwest of Mecklenburg, according to the NWS office in Greer, S.C.
And NWS investigators were headed to Burke County late Friday afternoon to see if reported damage was from a fourth tornado, NWS meteorologist Mike Rehnberg told The Charlotte Observer.
A team of NWS investigators on Friday surveyed damage in Alexander County and concluded that an EF-1 tornado touched down in the northwestern part of the county and traveled 5 or 6 miles with winds of at least 110 mph, county spokesman Gary Herman said.
“Several houses sustained damage during the severe storm, with many downed trees,” Herman said in a news release. “Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.”
EF-1 is the second most-intense of six tornado rankings based on the Enhanced Fujita Scale for potential damage caused.
Rehnberg said the NWS had issued a tornado warning for the county just after 10 p.m. Wednesday — among many tornado watches and warnings posted that day and night in the Carolinas.
An EF-2 that struck Pickens County packed winds up to 115 mph as it traveled 6.31 miles, the NWS said on Twitter. Three minor injuries were reported, the weather service reported.
An EF-0 with 70-mph maximum winds also touched down in Pickens County, with no injuries reported, according to the NWS.
While NWS radar images that day indicated the brunt of the storms were expected to strike Rock Hill and Charlotte by about 7 p.m., the worst of the weather stayed just to the west and northwest of the Queen City.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 5:27 PM.