NWS issues tornado watch in 14 SC counties

NEWBERRY, S.C. (AP) — The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for 14 counties as voters across South Carolina cast their ballots in the Republican presidential primary.

The watch extends past the end of voting Saturday in the GOP presidential nomination contest. The polls close at 7 p.m. The watch lasts until 8 p.m.

It covers 14 of the state’s 46 counties. They are Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Edgefield, Fairfield, Hampton, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland and Saluda.

The designation means conditions are favorable for a tornado. But weather service meteorologists say no tornado had been sighted as of Saturday afternoon.