1 thunderstorm wind, 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 Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:28 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe thunderstorms moved into Vernon Parish from northeast Texas, resulting in 70 mph winds, and causing considerable damage to a department store in Leesville. The high winds blew down one wall of the department store, and the store's inventory of electrical appliances and stereo equipment was damaged or ruined.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, 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: 5598055.