Tornadoes possible in Midlands, which faces two rounds of severe weather in forecast
Severe weather could return to the Midlands on Thursday according to the latest forecast, which includes possible tornadoes a week after at least 20 touched down across South Carolina.
There could be two bouts of tornadoes, damaging winds, thunderstorms, heavy rain, and flooding, according to the National Weather Service office in Columbia.
One round of severe weather is possible in the afternoon, with the chance of a second wave later in the evening, according to the forecast.
Isolated damaging winds and tornadoes pose the greatest threat, the NWS said.
The forecast also shows there is currently a slight chance of flash flooding in the Midlands.
As of Wednesday morning, no warnings, watches, or advisories had been issued by the NWS.
The rain could begin Wednesday night, and the chances of showers rises to 90 percent on Thursday, according to the forecast.
The cause of the potential severe weather is a cold front that’s projected to cross the central Gulf States then move through the Midlands, weather officials said.
The forecast shows there is a chance of continued rain and thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures reaching a high in the 80s.
With more severe weather in the forecast, the NWS said to “hope for the best but plan for the worst.” It tweeted that those preparations should include getting to a safe place that has not been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and having a communications plan.
On April 13, severe weather in the early morning caused nine deaths, more injuries, in addition to damaged and destroyed property. Additionally, more than 280,000 South Carolina power customers reported outages following the storms.
Of the 20 confirmed tornadoes, one was an EF0; seven were EF1s; five were EF2s and seven were EF3s, NWS meteorologist Whitney Smith told The State.
Eight of the tornadoes touched down in the Midlands region, the NWS said. Five of them were EF3s, with wind speeds between 136-165 mph.
It’s not uncommon at this time of year for separate storms and tornadoes to form in the Columbia area, according to the NWS. April is annually the peak month in South Carolina for twisters, and May is also active.
What is unusual is the number of tornadoes recorded last week.
The 20 tornadoes are the most documented since 32 were confirmed on March 15, 2008, NWS official Frank Alsheimer told The State.
The storms prompted Gov. Henry McMaster to declare a second state of emergency for South Carolina on top of the emergency declaration in place due to the coronavirus.
