COLUMBIA, S.C. — 2023 started off very busy with 7 tornadoes in South Carolina during the month of January including 5 touching down in the Midlands. Since then, things have quieted off quite a bit with our slowest Spring severe season since 2016.
In the month of April we have seen no tornadoes, so far. This is quite infrequent with this only happening 7 times over the past 30 years.
Over the past 5 years we have had some very active years including 2020 and 2022 that saw tornado outbreaks drop dozens of tornadoes but just like in 2021, we have only seen a few isolated events to start the season.
April is typically our peak month for tornadic activity but the severe season in South Carolina lasts into May so there is still some time that we could run into some rough weather.
Our next chance of seeing tornadic weather comes with another season, tropical season. Landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes impact our coasts but, as they move inland, they can spawn tornadoes including here in the Midlands.
Looking at the bigger picture our storm track has been mainly out to the west. This has kept developing lows and the best environment for severe weather out to the west and mainly out of the Carolinas.
As we look at the next few weeks, a cooler pattern looks to stick around in the East. While we can’t rule out severe weather, things look to be less-than-ideal for anything that could create an outbreak in the South.