Heat in Illinois, July 14 to 18, 1997

Name: Heat in Illinois, July 14 to 18, 1997
Start: 1997-07-14T18:30
End: 1997-07-18T10:00
Location: Illinois

July 14 to 18, 1997 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heat, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 5
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.

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Cook

When: July 14, 6:30 PM CST to July 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Cook forecast zone
Deaths: 5 direct, 0 indirect

From July 14th through July 18th, temperatures were in the upper 80s and middle 90s (with heat indices reaching 100 degrees) causing heat-related deaths throughout the Chicago area.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Heat, Cook	1997-07-18	85	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	1997-07-16	34	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
Heat, Cook	1997-07-14	72	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	1997-07-14	80	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	1997-07-14	54	Male	Permanent Home	Direct

What these are

Heat: Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, July 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: 5610979.