Spartanburg County tornado history

38 tornadoes touched Spartanburg County, South Carolina between 1950 and 2025 — about 0.5 a year. The strongest was rated F4 (May 5, 1989). Tornadoes here killed 4 and injured 140 people.

38tornadoes since 1950

F4strongest rating

4killed · 140 injured

60.2 milongest path · 1973

(E)F0(E)F1(E)F2(E)F3(E)F4(E)F5· dots = start point only

By rating

(E)F09

(E)F117

(E)F27

(E)F33

(E)F41

(E)F50

unrated1

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: April.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
May 5, 1989	F4	15 mi	700 yd	35	2
May 10, 1952	F3	22.7 mi	83 yd	4	2
May 27, 1973	F3	60.2 mi	150 yd	40	0
Aug 16, 1994	F3	30 mi	250 yd	0	0
Mar 27, 1994	F2	45.4 mi	100 yd	13	0
Oct 8, 2017	EF2	22.3 mi	200 yd	0	0
Aug 17, 1985	F2	9 mi	100 yd	39	0
Oct 23, 2017	EF2	3 mi	350 yd	1	0
May 23, 1980	F2	2.5 mi	100 yd	0	0
Apr 4, 1989	F2	2 mi	73 yd	0	0
Feb 21, 1997	F2	1 mi	73 yd	0	0
Mar 27, 1994	F1	33 mi	100 yd	4	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured
Dec 29, 2024	EF0	1.7 mi	30 yd	0
Mar 3, 2023	EF1	21.3 mi	50 yd	0
May 23, 2022	EF1	5.3 mi	200 yd	0
Apr 10, 2021	EF0	1.1 mi	20 yd	0
Feb 6, 2020	EF1	10.1 mi	100 yd	0
Oct 23, 2017	EF1	12.7 mi	100 yd	0
Oct 23, 2017	EF2	3 mi	350 yd	1
Oct 8, 2017	EF2	22.3 mi	200 yd	0
Nov 30, 2016	EF1	16.4 mi	150 yd	0
Jan 5, 2007	unrated	0.3 mi	50 yd	0
Jul 7, 2005	F0	0.2 mi	50 yd	0
Mar 11, 2000	F0	0.1 mi	20 yd	0

Deadliest: May 10, 1952, F3, 2 killed.

Nearby counties

Greenville County, SC38 Cherokee County, SC23 Polk County, NC4 Union County, SC22 Laurens County, SC25 Rutherford County, NC13 Cleveland County, NC29 Henderson County, NC4

Questions

How many tornadoes has Spartanburg County, South Carolina had?

38 tornadoes touched Spartanburg County, South Carolina between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 0.5 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Spartanburg County?

The strongest rating recorded was F4 on May 5, 1989, with a 15-mile path and 2 deaths.

When is tornado season in Spartanburg County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in April (7 of 38). Tornadoes can occur in any month, so keep alerts on year-round.

Right now: live tornado warnings map · alerts for your location. Dates link to that day’s full storm reports where available.