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Residents of central South Carolina were hit with multiple tornado warnings on Thursday morning (March 12, 2026) as a major storm front moved through the Midlands region of the state.
Beginning at approximately 9:21 a.m. EDT, the Columbia, S.C. branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) began issuing tornado warnings for broad swaths of the region – including Lexington and Saluda counties south of Lake Murray and shortly thereafter for several heavily populated regions in Lexington and Richland counties north of the lake.
From 9:21 a.m. through 10:14 a.m., a total of six tornado warnings were issued for NWS Columbia’s coverage area – including warnings which encompassed Ballentine, Columbia, Gilbert and Irmo, S.C. At one point, nearly a quarter million Midlands residents were under a tornado warning.
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While none of the dreaded funnel clouds appear to have touched down, the weather’s ominous turn was duly noted as cell phones across the region lit up with emergency warnings.
“(The) sky was green and got super dark really fast,” one Midlands resident wrote on X.
One weather watcher, Bethany Ouimette, was tracking traffic cameras operated by the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) when she observed an “intermittent funnel… coming and going.”
Multiple schools in the Midlands region instituted shelter in place protocols – while some schools actually evacuated students to more secure structures on campus. At the Target shopping center on Harbison Drive – a heavily trafficked retail area of northwest Columbia – shoppers were told to gather in the center of the store where they were asked to shelter in place for nearly an hour until the storm passed.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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