Illinois, 1997

Tornado in Illinois, April 30, 1997

April 30, 1997 · NWS LSX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A tornado left an intermittant path of damage from south central Lewis County, Missouri into Adams County, Illinois. A machine shed was destroyed near Ewing where the tornado first formed.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS LSX wrote it up.

A tornado left an intermittant path of damage from south central Lewis County, Missouri into Adams County, Illinois. A machine shed was destroyed near Ewing where the tornado first formed. The storm moved quickly northeast causing intermittant tree damage and some roof damage to homes and outbuildings until it approached Canton. On the northwest side of Canton 4 homes suffered major roof damage. According to emergency management officials, 10 homes suffered major roof damage, another 30 minor damage. About 20 outbuidings were destroyed. Once the tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Ilinois, the tornado weakened and only caused tree damage. There was injury near Canton. An 18 year-old man suffered some bruised when he was thrown down some stairs when the roof of his home flew off.

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 178 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:23 UTC.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Adams

When
April 30, 12:22 PM CST to 12:25 PM CST
Where
Adams County, Meyer to 1 mi NE of Meyer
Rating
F0
Path length
1 mi
Path width
50 yd
Coordinates
40.170, -91.500

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Illinois in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 1997Warnings in Illinois, April 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5596087.