43
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
20
Direct injuries
$12.5M
Property damage
Tornado in Richland County, South Carolina: 43 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F2. That places the county #537 nationally and #6 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Richland County, South Carolina: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Richland County is the 2000s, when 11 of the county's 43 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 Richland County archive, tornado makes up 3.0% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #537 for this hazard and #6 within South Carolina, putting it in the 81.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Mar is the peak month for tornado in Richland County with 10 recorded events, while Dec 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-03-15 | EF3 | 27.5 mi | 1,320 yd | Crossed in |
| 1976-05-15 | EF2 | 3.8 mi | 40 yd | Touched down here |
| 2004-09-07 | EF2 | 2.5 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 1987-08-31 | EF2 | 0.2 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1975-11-12 | EF2 | 2.0 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 1973-12-13 | EF2 | 30.5 mi | 80 yd | Crossed in |
| 1967-05-29 | EF2 | 0.5 mi | 20 yd | Touched down here |
| 1964-08-29 | EF2 | 1.0 mi | 67 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-01-27 | EF1 | 0.9 mi | 90 yd | Touched down here |
| 2020-04-13 | EF1 | 4.9 mi | 80 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1976 | F2 | 1 | 3 | $250K | |
| Nov 13, 1975 | F2 | 0 | 7 | $250K | |
| Sep 7, 2004 | GADSDEN | F2 | 0 | 3 | $100K |
| May 30, 1967 | F2 | 0 | 3 | $25K | |
| Aug 31, 1987 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jul 24, 1997 | COLUMBIA | F1 | 0 | 1 | $205K |
| Jan 10, 1972 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2026 | BALLENTINE | EF0 | $0 |
| Dec 29, 2024 | CHAPIN | EF0 | $0 |
| Jan 27, 2024 | PONTIAC | EF1 | $0 |
| Sep 17, 2020 | KINGVILLE | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 13, 2020 | SHARP | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 4, 2019 | WEDDELL | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 4, 2019 | ST ANDREWS | EF1 | $0 |
| Oct 11, 2018 | WATEREE | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 3, 2012 | DENNY TERRACE | EF0 | $30K |
| Mar 15, 2008 | SHARP | EF1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Richland County
- Thunderstorm Wind 812
- Flash Flood 238
- Hail 231
- Heavy Rain 45
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An EF0 tornado touched down just west of Monticello road on the back end of Columbia International University then crossed the intersection of Houston Street and Bishopville Ave. Theo tornado continued with intermittent touchdown east to Patton Lane. Many trees and large branches were down, some which fell on a mobile home doing minor damage.
A relatively long-lived EF-0 tornado with peak winds of 75 mph began near Old Hilton Rd east of Chapin and moved northeast causing sporadic EF-0 tree damage crossing I-26 and Bush Mill Road. The tornado continued northeast, causing more tree damage along Wash Lever Rd and Muddy Ford Rd before moving over the Broad River and into Fairfield County.
A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed a brief EF-1 tornado, with|peak winds of 90 mph, in northeast Richland County near Pontiac. The tornado began|in a wooded area southwest of Kelly Mill Road and to the east of Bridge Creek where it|snapped and uprooted numerous softwood trees. It also snapped off the top of a power |pole and peeled back a portion of the tin roof of a shed. The tornado then crossed Kelly|Mill Road and continued northeast where it snapped and uprooted additional trees near|a home and then the tornado continued into an inaccessible wooded area. The last|visible damage appears to be a snapped tree at the end of Mazola Court. The tornado|likely lifted before crossing Cherokee Blvd in Kershaw County.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Richland County, South Carolina?
43 tornado events are recorded in Richland County between 1955 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Richland County?
The strongest tornado on record in Richland County measured F2.
Where does the tornado data for Richland 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 Richland County, South Carolina.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-carolina/richland-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.