Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 18, 1997

Name: Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 18, 1997
Start: 1997-05-18T18:34
End: 1997-05-18T18:50
Location: Illinois

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

1 thunderstorm wind, 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: 1
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), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:33 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Du Page

When: May 18, 6:34 PM CST to 6:50 PM CST
Where: Du Page County, (Dpa)dupage Co Arpt to Willowbrook
Measured: 64 kt (74 mph)
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 41.900, -88.250

A 73 mph wind gust was reported at Du Page Airport in West Chicago. Trees and limbs were blown down throughout the county causing power outages. Some trees or limbs fell on cars and roofs of houses. At Carol Stream winds peeled off part of the roof of a Pizza Hut, an apartment building and ice skating rink. The roof debris damaged cars. In Naperville a woman was injured by flying glass at a hotel at I-88 and Naperville Road. Wind damaged the roof of a house in Willowbrook.

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

Every storm in Illinois in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, May 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: 5598046.