NWS Confirms EF-0 Tornado Touched Down South of Bamberg on March 12

A brief tornado touched down south of Bamberg on Thursday, March 12, with the National Weather Service office in Columbia confirming the storm as an EF-0 that formed near the intersection of Highway 601 and Harley Road before tracking east a short distance and lifting.

A survey team from the NWS Columbia office determined the reported damage in Bamberg County resulted from the tornado, which carried estimated peak winds of 75 mph. The path length was described only as very short; no numeric distance was provided in the agency's findings. No information on injuries or damage specifics has been officially released for the Bamberg event, and county officials have not yet issued a public statement.

The Bamberg tornado was one of four storm-related events the NWS confirmed across the Midlands from Thursday's severe weather system. Survey teams verified three EF-0 tornadoes in total, along with a tornadic waterspout over Lake Murray. A separate EF-0 touched down northwest of Irmo in Richland County around 9:52 a.m., traveling more than two miles east before dissipating near Woodrow Street at approximately 9:54 a.m. That tornado, about 100 yards wide with winds up to 65 mph, caused minor tree, siding, and shingle damage along its path through neighborhoods near Dreher Shoals Road, River Song Road, Royal Tower Drive, and toward Rawls Creek Park. A third EF-0 was confirmed north of Ridge Spring in Saluda County, with a path length of less than half a mile.

The Lake Murray waterspout formed over open water a few miles south of the Irmo tornado between 9:53 a.m. and 9:55 a.m. and dissipated without causing notable damage on land. Because it left no ground damage, the NWS was unable to establish an estimated wind speed for that storm.

Bamberg County has seen stronger tornado activity in recent years. On April 5, 2022, NWS surveys confirmed multiple tornadoes in the county, including an EF-1 near Ehrhardt with peak winds of 110 mph and a path length of nearly 3.75 miles, and an EF-0 near Farrell Crossroads with 85 mph winds and a track of about 2.35 miles. A separate storm that day intensified into an EF-3 with estimated 160 mph winds as it crossed into Bamberg County near the intersection of Highway 321 and Highway 301, causing extensive forest and structural damage.

Thursday's EF-0 near Highway 601 and Harley Road represented the lower end of the tornado scale. Anyone with damage reports or photos from the March 12 storm near that area is encouraged to contact the NWS Columbia office, which continues to review survey data from the event.