Updated: 5:57 PM EDT May 6, 2021
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The National Weather Service in Columbia confirmed Thursday afternoon that an EF1 tornado hit near the Fairfield County Airport Tuesday. The tornado had peak winds of 105 mph.
The brief tornado touched down near Rion in Fairfield County on Tuesday. This tornado was associated with a line of severe thunderstorms that moved across the Midlands, producing numerous reports of wind damage. The strongest part of the tornado occurred near the Fairfield County Airport.
According to the NWS survey team, the tornado started near Hard Rock Rd., uprooting and snapping numerous trees as it moved northeast across Ridge Rd and Granite Lane.