Illinois, 1997

Tornado in Illinois, July 18, 1997

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

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
2
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.

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 19 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:49 UTC.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Will

When
July 18, 2:50 PM CST
Where
Will County, Mokena
Rating
F1
Path length
2 mi
Path width
150 yd
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
41.530, -87.880

A tornado was observed along a 2-mile path in a northwest to southeast track from about I-80 at 104th Avenue across 191st Street, across Rt 45 into the Arbury Hills Subdivision east of Mokena. The greatest damage occurred on I-80; where a semi was blown off the road and two people were injured in the truck. Just south of I-80, a horse barn was destroyed and another lifted off of the ground. Extensive damage was observed at an RV dealership on 191st street where a 7000 lb. trailer was lifted off of the ground and piled atop two other trailers. Also, along one block of Catalpa Street in the Arbury Hill Subdivision where two houses sustained enough roof damage to be declared unhabitable. There was also extensive tree damage in the subdivision.

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, 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: 5610851.