South Carolina's Barnwell County Tornado Upgraded to EF-2

The National Weather Service upgraded a tornado that hit Barnwell County, South Carolina, from EF-1 to EF-2. The agency's damage-survey update, released Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, raised the tornado's estimated peak winds from 105 mph to 115 mph. EF-2 is two steps up the six-level Enhanced Fujita wind-damage scale, which runs from EF0 to EF5. The tornado touched down at 4:49 p.m. EDT on Oct. 10, 2026, near Kline, then tracked north through the city of Barnwell before lifting near Williston.

A storm survey found the tornado's track covered 18.04 miles and up to 250 yards wide. It was likely associated with a supercell that spawned multiple tornadoes across the Carolinas and Georgia on Oct. 10-11, 2026. The upgrade makes it the third tornado from that outbreak confirmed at EF-2. Two tornadoes from the same outbreak were confirmed at EF-2 earlier in the week: the Old Blair Road tornado in Newberry County, South Carolina, and one in Duplin County, North Carolina.

The tornado caused scattered tree damage, with the heaviest concentrated in a wooded area along a field south of Freedom Road, where numerous large hardwood trees were snapped or uprooted, the survey found; a few wooden power poles were also knocked down. No injuries or fatalities were reported.