49
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
57
Direct injuries
$58.1M
Property damage
Tornado in Lexington County, South Carolina: 49 recorded events between 1957 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #400 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Lexington County, South Carolina: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Lexington County is the 2020s, when 14 of the county's 49 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Lexington County archive, tornado makes up 3.8% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #400 for this hazard and #4 within South Carolina, putting it in the 86.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Aug is the peak month for tornado in Lexington County with 9 recorded events, while May is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-11-02 | EF3 | 1.5 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
| 1994-08-16 | EF3 | 8.0 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 1994-08-16 | EF3 | 0.3 mi | 73 yd | Touched down here |
| 1955-03-13 | EF2 | 9.9 mi | 133 yd | Crossed in |
| 1997-07-23 | EF2 | 3.5 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2022-04-05 | EF2 | 5.7 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 2018-04-15 | EF2 | 3.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2012-02-24 | EF2 | 9.2 mi | 150 yd | Crossed in |
| 2010-03-28 | EF2 | 5.0 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-03-15 | EF2 | 8.3 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 1997 | GASTON | F2 | 1 | 6 | $917K |
| Aug 16, 1994 | Lexington | F3 | 0 | 40 | $50.0M |
| Aug 16, 1994 | F0 | 0 | 4 | $0 | |
| Feb 22, 1993 | to 4 ENE | F1 | 0 | 2 | $5.0M |
| Jan 10, 1972 | F1 | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jan 9, 2024 | SYRUP | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Mar 29, 2010 | RIDGE RD XRDS | EF2 | 0 | 1 | $1.0M |
| Apr 5, 1957 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2026 | PROVIDENCE | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 10, 2025 | ELLA | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 16, 2025 | ELLA | EF1 | $0 |
| Sep 27, 2024 | GASTON LEX CO ARPT | EF0 | $0 |
| Sep 27, 2024 | SWANSEA | EF0 | $0 |
| Jan 9, 2024 | SYRUP | EF1 | $0 |
| Jan 4, 2023 | EDMUND | EF0 | $0 |
| Jan 4, 2023 | POOLES XRDS | EF1 | $0 |
| Jan 4, 2023 | GILBERT | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 5, 2022 | GASTON | EF1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Lexington County
- Thunderstorm Wind 799
- Hail 302
- Flash Flood 77
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An F2 tornado producing winds to 150 mph killed a 32 year old female and injured 6 others. Two homes were destroyed and 9 others had major damage. Two apartements were destroyed (duplex). Seven mobile homes were destroyed and 94 had minor damage. Numerous trees were down and two crop fields had areas of destroyed crops.
Lake Murray ,Tornado touched down near intersection of SC311 and SC244 3 miles south-southeast of Lexington. Major damage occurred to the Glassmaster factory at the intersection of SC6 and Interstate 20. The tornado from that point was mostly on the ground as it moved through east and north central Lexington. Outside of Lexington, the tornado passed near the Rikard Nursing home. The storm became more intense with another area of severe damage in the Secret Cove area along the south Lake Murray shore. The tornado apparently dissipated over Lake Murray although strong winds were noted in the Old Forbes Road area on the northern shore of Lake Murray. Approximately 200 homes were damaged, many businesses, several churches and public buildings were also damaged. Five electric substations were damaged in Lexington County with 15,000 customers without electrical power. Forty people were injured. The tornado was observed by many people from the time it first struck near SC602 until it dissipated over Lake Murray.
A tornado clipped off or uprooted numerous trees along a 0.5-mile-path. Roof of a house was lifted up and set back down, a mobile home destroyed, another overturned, and severely damaged, roof blown off a garage, shed picked up and destroyed, and four chicken houses damaged.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Lexington County, South Carolina?
49 tornado events are recorded in Lexington County between 1957 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Lexington County?
The strongest tornado on record in Lexington County measured F3.
Where does the tornado data for Lexington County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Lexington County, South Carolina.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-carolina/lexington-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.