Thunderstorm Wind, Cook
- When
- April 5, 5:58 PM CST to 6:10 PM CST
- Where
- Cook County, Midway Airport
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Coordinates
- 41.780, -87.750
Damaging Wind in Illinois, April 5, 1997
Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong coldfront during the afternoon and continued into the early evening hours. The thunderstorms moved east through north central Illinois, into northeast Illinois and into northwest Indiana, producing damaging winds with gusts in excess of 60 mph.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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 LOT wrote it up.
Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong coldfront during the afternoon and continued into the early evening hours. The thunderstorms moved east through north central Illinois, into northeast Illinois and into northwest Indiana, producing damaging winds with gusts in excess of 60 mph. Damages included downed power lines and large trees, broken off tree limbs and shingles ripped off roofs.Strong thunderstorm winds were the cause of a storage building in Plato Center, in Kane County Illinois, to loose its roof, a home north of Elburn, Illinois to loose all of its siding and barns along Burlington Blacktop at Illinois 47 were stripped of shingles and sheeting.
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:59 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Blizzard in North Dakota, April 5 to 6, 1997
- Blizzard in South Dakota, April 5 to 6, 1997
- Blizzard in Minnesota, April 5 to 6, 1997
- Flood in North Dakota, April 5 to 8, 1997
- Flash Flood in Arkansas, April 5, 1997
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, April 5, 1997
- Flood in Minnesota, April 5 to 8, 1997
- Flood in Minnesota, April 5 to 9, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, April 5, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, April 5, 1997
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, April 5, 1997
- Blizzard in Nebraska, April 5 to 6, 1997
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5593308.