More than 8,000 Beaufort County homes went without power at storm’s peak Tuesday night

Following a 7:30 p.m. severe thunderstorm warning issued by the National Weather Service, thousands of homes were without power in Beaufort County.

As minutes passed Tuesday evening, power outages were increasing rapidly, according to PowerOutage.US.

Tray Hunter, Palmetto Electric Cooperative spokesperson, said the height of power outages was at 8:30 p.m. and affected over 8,000 customers. The cause of most of the outages was a tree that fell on a transmission line, he said.

“It is not a slow night,” Hunter said at 10 p.m., adding that the majority of outages were fixed within an hour or two.

Nearly 2,000 Dominion Energy customers were waiting for power to be restored a 10:15 p.m., PowerOutage.US showed.

While it was not immediately clear the location of the bulk of outages in Beaufort County, power outages were reported in Sun City, Alljoy, Seagrass Station and University Place, according to a local Facebook group Bluffton/Hilton Head Ask and Answer.

At 7:27 p.m., radar indicated a severe thunderstorm near Meldrim, Georgia, that was moving east at 20 mph. That storm brought 60 mph wind gusts and penny-sized hail, the NWS said. A severe thunderstorm warning was triggered for Beaufort County shortly after.

The last NWS update under the warning, at 9:03 p.m., said a severe thunderstorm was located near Parris Island, moving east at 40 mph. Radar indicated 60 mph wind gusts, which means affected areas should expect damage to trees and power lines, according to the service.

The severe thunderstorm warning for Beaufort and Jasper counties lifted at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

When the NWS dispatches a watch alert, it means hazardous weather is possible in and near the watch area or the likelihood of the event has increased significantly. Watches are issued by the Storm Prediction Center for counties where the severe weather may occur, and the watch area is typically large.

A severe thunderstorm warning indicates that conditions pose a threat to life or property, and that travel will become difficult to impossible.

On Tuesday, the county spent a second-consecutive day under a severe thunderstorm watch and a heat advisory. The heat index spiked over 110 in some areas but skies stayed near-cloudless. By the evening, the NWS issued upped the likelihood for severe thunderstorms by placing Jasper and Beaufort counties under a warning, urging people to take shelter inside as high-speed wind gusts and pelting hail loomed.

According to a weekly weather summary published by the NWS’ Charleston office, there are no hazards expected Wednesday.