Lexington County hit by strong storms Halloween night

Lexington, SC (Paul Kirby) – A strong line of storms ripped across Lexington County Thursday evening bringing strong rains and heavy winds to several areas of our county. The skies darkened early, and the worst of the storms came through just before and as it was getting dark.

As families prepared their little spooks, princesses, or ghosts to try and score some candy for Halloween, the thunder started, and a tornado watch was issued for first the southwest and then the entire county. It lasted until after 11:00 p.m. Some Halloween events relocated or rescheduled, and others held on hoping it would pass.

Just as the events began to kick into high gear, storms entered from the west packing a wallop. The saving grace was that line of squalls was moving very fast. Batesburg-Leesville could hardly relocate their huge Halloween on Main event and forged ahead. It was a good call as the storms sped by leaving calmer weather in its wake that allowed the event to go on.

There was one unconfirmed tornado sighting in the Calks Ferry Road, Springhill Road area of the county close to Gilbert. An independent storm chaser who was in constant contact with The Ledger checked the area and said it was mostly clear. He said he located very little if any leaves, pine needles, or debris in the roads.

The storms seemed to do the most damage in the Town of Lexington. There were some powerlines down and a few trees fell. One that landed across the road blocked all lanes of Dreher Street near Harmon. Dominion Energy crews were quick to get the downed power lines back up and crews from the Town of Lexington removed the tree.

After the storm crossed Lexington, things quickly quieted down as the county’s fire service answered a few alarms and other calls. The storms quickly moved off further east.

Friday morning there was a stark difference in the temperatures as Lexington County residents awoke to weather that was in the low 40's. Even cooler weather is expected over the coming weekend.