...1840... A powerful tornado wrecked many boats at the Natchez Landing in Mississippi, then plowed through the city on the bluff. The tornado killed 317 persons, and caused a million dollars damage. The force of the storm caused houses to burst open. The tornado was the most deadly and destructive in early American history.

...1927... Two massive F5 tornadoes combined for a 95 mile path of destruction through Comanche, Barber, Kingman, Reno, and McPherson Counties in Kansas. The death toll was 10 and 300 were injured. Damage was set at 1.3 million. The tornado path width reached 2 miles at one point.

...1939... The high temperature peaked at 85 degrees on this day at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 84 degrees that was set in 1930.

...1964... The temperature at White Mountain 2, located in California, dipped to 15 degrees below zero to set a record for May for the continental U.S.

...1967... The low temperature dipped to 33 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island breaking the record of 39 degrees that was set in 1923.

...1987... Thirty-one cities in the western U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Highs of 93 degrees at Portland OR and San Jose CA were the warmest of record for so early in the season. The high of 92 degrees at Quillayute WA was a record for the month of May. The temperature at Sacramento CA hit 105 degrees.

...1988... A powerful storm in the north central U.S. produced up to three feet of snow in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming and the mountains of south central Montana. Up to five inches of rain drenched central Montana in less than 24 hours, and flash flooding in Wyoming caused a million dollars damage.

...1989... Thirty-two cities in the central and eastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date, and 24 hour snowfall totals of 7.2 inches at Buffalo NY and 10.7 inches at Rochester NY were records for the month of May. While northerly winds ushered unseasonably cold air into the eastern U.S., temperatures warmed rapidly in the Great Plains Region, reaching the 90s in Kansas. The temperature at Manhattan KS soared from a low of 30 degrees to a high of 88 degrees.

...1990... Gale force winds lashed the northern and central Pacific coast. A wind gust of 52 mph at Eureka CA established a record for the month of May. Strong winds over northeastern Colorado, associated with a fast moving Pacific cold front, gusted to 63 mph at Peetz. Snow developed over the northwest mountains of Wyoming late in the day, and Yellowstone National Park was whitened with 6 to 14 inches.

...1992... At Newport, Rhode Island the barometric pressure rose to 30.65 inches, breaking the record of 30.42 inches set in 1968.

...1995... The relative humidity fell to a very dry 13% at Newport, Rhode Island on this day, breaking the previous record of 15% that was set back in 1963.  An F3 tornado cut a 34 mile path across Love and Carter Counties in south central Oklahoma, killing 3 people and doing over $100 million in damages -- $75 million in Ardmore alone.

...2005... A wind gust of 45 miles per hour was recorded at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 43 miles per hour set back in 1988.