Daniel Prince
EF1 tornado touched down near Hickory Tavern, traveled through downtown Gray Court
The storm that prompted a tornado warning Friday night for a portion of Laurens, Spartanburg, and Union counties did produce a tornado, according to the National Weather Service. The warning expired before the storm made it into Union County, but an EF1 tornado with estimated winds of 100 mph affected parts of northern Laurens and southern Spartanburg counties. The path length of the storm was nearly 21-1/2 miles, and it was around 50 yards wide. No one was hurt in the storm. The tornado touched down about 5 miles north-northwest of Hickory Tavern in Laurens County, downing numerous trees in its path. Multiple trees fell on a house on Barnyard Court. The tornado then traveled into downtown Gray Court, snapping and uprooting trees there sporadically. It uprooted or snapped at least a dozen trees near a pond at the intersection of Garrett Road and Ora Road. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped between mile markers 41 and 42 on I-26 near Enoree. The tornado finally lifted off of Cross Anchor Road, but not before downing a few large limbs off of trees there. EF1 is the 2nd-weakest tornado on the scale, with estimated winds at between 86-110 mph. The scale goes from EF0, with winds of 65-85 mph, all the way to EF5, with winds of 200+ mph.