1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 Lincoln radar (KILX), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:57 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
An Illinois Department of Conservation officer reported a brief touchdown of a tornado in a field 1 mile north of Ashmore. No injuries or damage were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 1997Warnings in Illinois, May 1997
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: 5614543.