The tornado killed 27 residents of the town, mainly in a single subdivision, and inflicted approximately $40 million (1997 USD) in damages in its 13-minute, 5.1 miles (8.2 km) track.

It occurred as part of a tornado outbreak across central Texas; it was produced by a supercell that had developed from an unstable airmass and favorable meteorological conditions at the time, including high convective available potential energy (CAPE) values and warm dewpoints.

As the tornado moved through a neighborhood near Jarrell, it began to slow down, before almost stopping completely over the area while reaching its maximum width and producing violent F5-level winds.

On the morning of May 27, 1997, an upper-level low-pressure area located over portions of South Dakota and Nebraska had moved northward which caused a weak, mid-level flow across Texas.

A gravity wave was also noted from the cold front near Waco, Texas and southward, which would promote initiation of supercells, including the one which produced the Jarrell tornado.

[3] This, along with extremely high CAPE values shown near the surface from a sounding over Waco at 12:00 CDT (17:00 UTC), likely caused vorticity near and along the cold front and the production of the Jarrell tornado.

[3] The supercell that produced the Jarrell tornado first developed in McLennan County before noon, initially moving slowly southwestward in the unstable airmass.

[5] Shortly thereafter, the supercell began to move slightly westward towards Jarrell and Salado while continuing to show signs of rapid, low-level rotation.

This would result in another tornado warning being issued by the National Weather Service in Austin/San Antonio for Williamson County, including Jarrell, at 15:30 CDT (22:30 UTC), in response to the storm's approach to the town.

[5] Some of the most extreme damage in this area was inflicted to a small metal-framed recycling plant that was directly hit and obliterated, with only the foundation and a few twisted and bent metal beams remaining.

[8] Multiple people were sheltering in a mobile home south of the recycling plant, but later decided to evacuate to a frame house to take cover.

Post-event surveys and eyewitness accounts reported that the tornado began to significantly slow its forward movement, essentially stalling as it entered the neighborhood.

[3][12] The tornado immediately began to destroy structures and homes as it hit multiple streets at the northeastern edge of the housing development.

[5] The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) concluded that it had lifted at 3:53 pm, remaining on the ground for 13 minutes and traversing 5.1 miles (8.2 km).

[24] An additional thirteen people were reportedly transported to a hospital after the event; most of the wounded had abrasions and lacerations due to debris from the tornado.

The Double Creek Estates subdivision quickly became the focal point of search-and-rescue and recovery efforts, which were aided by civilians and volunteer workers.

Many impacted people in Double Creek Estates remained in the general area amid recovery efforts stemming from the tornado.

[30] Then-governor of Texas George W. Bush[31] declared Williamson County a disaster area, later stating during a visit to Jarrell on May 28 that it was "the worst tornado I've ever seen".

[13][33][27] A case study and critique was published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which covered the structural damage caused by the tornado and the track that it left.

[13] The case study concluded that some of the homes at Double Creek Estates did have small structural integrity issues, which includes factors such as a lack of sufficient anchor bolts and steel straps in the house foundations.

[8] The University of Wisconsin-Madison also published a case study on the event, authored by Andrew Mankowski, which detailed the weather conditions that caused the tornado to form and how it became as violent as it was.

[33] The study said that several meteorological conditions were responsible for the tornado being produced, due in part of a cold front, frontogenesis, and a very unstable warm air mass that had convective available potential energy (CAPE) values topping 6000 j/kg.

[27] The study and survey concluded that thirty-three people were transported to area hospitals with various injuries, with the most common ones lacerations, contusions, and abrasions.

[27] Numerous other groups and organizations conducted small case studies and surveys in the wake of the tornado, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)[34] and the Regional and Mesocale Meteorology Branch (RaMMB).

[34] A small case study by the NOAA had concluded that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) was not activated in a timely manner to warn about the tornado.