Minor damage reported from storms

Photo provided Gail Mathis' windows were blown out from her Manning house during a storm Monday.

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

An unstable weather pattern caused an outbreak of severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado in parts of South Carolina on Monday night and Tuesday.

Minor damage was reported in the tri-county area, officials said Tuesday afternoon.

A few trees were reported down, causing scattered power outages and broken windows, officials said.

A downed tree near Elliott in Lee County fell on a power line, causing loss of power to 75 to 100 homes, said Progress Energy Spokeswoman Mindy Taylor.

Scattered outages were reported in Sumter and Clarendon counties, she said.

Black River Electric Cooperative Spokeswoman Sherri Woodward said 75 to 100 customers lost power between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Monday.

"Most of these were in the Lynchburg area," she said. "There were a few others in other areas like Pinewood, but most were in Lynchburg."

Power was restored by 11 p.m. Monday, she said. The threat of severe weather continued Tuesday night, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service Office in Columbia reported that one thunderstorm with high winds caused trees to go down on state highways 40, 64 and 226 in eastern Clarendon County about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

There were no reports of damage associated with that thunderstorm, according to Clarendon County Emergency Management Director Anthony Mack.

Emergency management officials in Lee and Sumter counties also reported no damage from scattered thunderstorms.

A stalled frontal boundary with a series of disturbances moving along the system caused the showers and thunderstorms, said Meteorologist Dave Schutrum.

The combination of daytime heating and lots of moisture threatened to impact the tri-county area Tuesday night, Schutrum said.

The frontal boundary is expected to move northward on Wednesday, causing the threat of thunderstorms to decrease to about 30 percent, Schutrum said.

Doppler radar indicated that a possible tornado struck parts of Newberry and Fairfield counties on Monday night, he said.

"We're sending someone out now to see if we can get this confirmed," he said.

The weather system brought much-needed rainfall to the state with many locations receiving more than one inch, officials said.



Contact Staff Writer Randy Burns at rburns@theitem.com or (803) 491-4533.