SANTEE - A tornado was reportedly spotted on the ground near the Interstate 95 mile marker 96 Friday afternoon.

But the Columbia National Weather Service said there was no indication on radar of a tornado and identified the report as ''bogus.''

"We checked the radar and it did not show any tornadic signatures," said Tim Hawks of the Columbia National Weather Service.

Hawks said around 3:26 p.m. the South Carolina's State Warning Point (a 24-hour/7-day a week emergency dispatch system) relayed a report through the Orangeburg County dispatch that a tornado was spotted two-miles southeast of Santee near mile marker 96.

Hawks said an examination of the radar from 3:15 p.m. to 3:35 p.m. did not reveal a tornado.

Hawks said what may have been spotted was a low-hanging cloud.

Orangeburg County Emergency Services officials said a notice did come through dispatch but they were not able to confirm the report and no additional notifications were issued.

The NWS did release a special weather statement for The T&D Region at 1:50 p.m. Friday calling for heavy rain with possible showers and thunderstorms through 4:30 p.m.

Heavier storms were expected to produce two to three inches of rain and could result in flooding in low-lying areas. The weather statement was discontinued at 4:30 p.m.

A trough of low pressure from the northern Gulf of Mexico hovering off the South Carolina coast was responsible for the showery weather Friday.

The trough was forecast to hang around the area through the weekend.

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