Created: 3/17/2008 9:57:01 AM 
(WLTX) - The damage from Saturday's tornado outbreak in the Midlands is still being assessed, but we now have a better idea of what path each tornado took.
The National Weather Service spent Sunday compiling the data. They then put that information graphically on a map. (Click Here to See the Map - Courtesy: National Weather Service)
The following is a description in words of just what each one of the tornadoes did.
Before you read further, here's a quick definition of terms. You'll see the description "EF" before the strength ratings on each tornado. That stands for "Enhanced Fujita," and is the scale by which tornado intensity is measured. There are six levels: EF-0, EF-1, EF-2, EF-3, EF-4, EF-5. EF-0 is the weakest, with EF-5 the strongest.
Tornado #1 (Prosperity/Elgin Damage)
Developed shortly before 4:20 PM along the southwest side of Newberry County. Golf ball-sized hail was reported about 10 minutes before touchdown just 2 miles north of Silverstreet. The EF-3 tornado crossed through Silverstreet and moved due east and tore through Prosperity around 4:35 PM. It tore a path near 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide for several miles. The twister passed due east into the northwestern tip of Richland County near Summerville. It then turned southeast and moved parallel to I-26 for a few miles before turning back to the east. Reports of a tornado came in around 5:05 PM from areas between Blythewood to Elgin across the northeast side of Columbia. The twister, then an EF-2, sideswiped the northern side of Elgin around 5:30. The tornado apparently lifted as it crossed I-20, then touched down again in southwestern Lee County. Signs of EF-1 damage were spotted from just south of Rose Hill to just west of St. Charles.
Tornado #2
(Lugoff/Camden)
This tornado may have been spawned from the Elgin tornado that occurred just to the west a few minutes earlier. A weak EF-0 survived on a short 5 mi. path from just north of Lugoff northeastward to just north of Camden. The twister developed shortly before 5:30 and lasted only a few minutes.
Tornado #3 (Winnsboro/Northern Kershaw)
An EF-1 tornado developed about 4 miles east of Winnsboro, near I-77, shortly after 4:15 PM and moved just north of east to Liberty Hill in northwestern Kershaw county. The tornado continued north-northeast into extreme northern Kershaw county and southern Lancaster county, passing just south of Kershaw in Lancaster county around 4:45 PM. The twister faded into the Sugarloaf Mountain Recreation Area in Chesterfield county.
Tornado #4 (Long Path ? Saluda to Clarendon)
An EF-0 tornado formed in northern McCormick County, dropping golf ball-sized hail just before 5 PM and slid into Edgefield county intensifying into an EF-1. The twister then weakened to an EF-0 and crossed along the southern tip of Saluda county crossing near the cities of Ward and Ridge Spring. After crossing I-20 into southern Lexington county, the storm moved southeastward as crossed near Pelion and south of Swansea. After clipping the northern tip of Orangeburg county, the tornado apparently drifted over I-26 in Calhoun county near the 136 mile marker and moved eastward through St. Matthews shortly before 7 PM. It then turned south-southeast across Lake Marion and moved into southern Clarendon county around 7:15 PM before dying out just east of Lake Marion around 7:30. The National Weather Service reports that it is unlikely that the twister was on the ground the ENTIRE trip but rather made a series of touchdowns in its two and half hour trek.
Tornado #5 (Branchville)
An EF-0 tornado formed in northern McDuffie County (in Georgia) and crossed north of Augusta before intensifying to an EF-2 tornado in Aiken County around 6:15-6:30 PM. The tornado quickly drifted southeastward into Barnwell and Bamberg counties moving through the cities of Denmark and Bamberg. Golf ball-sized hail was reported in the cities of Bamberg as this system moved through around 6:45 PM. Finally, the tornado, now an EF-3, crossed into southern Orangeburg County where it tore through Branchville just before 7 PM and quickly dissipated a few miles eastward.
