...1771... 150 lives were lost in the Richmond, Virginia area in the Great James River Flood.

...1850... The Mormon temple at Nauvoo, Illinois was destroyed by a tornado.

...1896... A massive tornado struck Saint Louis MO killing 306 persons and causing thirteen million dollars damage. The tornado path was short, but cut across a densely populated area. It touched down six miles west of Eads Bridge in Saint Louis and widened to a mile as it crossed into East Saint Louis. The tornado was the most destructive of record in the U.S. up until that time. It pierced a five-eighths inch thick iron sheet with a two by four inch pine plank. A brilliant display of lightning accompanied the storm.

...1914... The high temperature peaked at 84 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island (later tied in 1933) and the heat index rose to 88 degrees, setting the record high for the date.

...1917... 67 people were killed and 345 were injured when an F4 tornado tracked 50 miles through Lake County in Tennessee and Fulton, Hickman, and Graves Counties in Kentucky.

...1931... A tornado struck the "Empire Builder" near Moorhead, Minnesota. Five coaches weighing 70 tons each were lifted off the track. One was carried 80 feet. 57 of the 117 passengers were injured and one was blown through a window and killed.

...1956... The wind gusted to 53 miles per hour at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 25 miles per hour set in 1954 and 1952.

...1972... At Newport, Rhode Island the low temperature fell to 35 degrees, breaking the record of 39 degrees set in 1968.

...1984... Thunderstorms unloaded 8.63 inches of rain on Tulsa, Oklahoma in only 6 hours. The resultant flash flooding killed 14 people and total damage was $89.6 million.

...1987... Severe thunderstorms in West Texas produced baseball size hail at Crane, hail up to three and a half inches in diameter at Post, and grapefruit size hail south of Midland. Five days of flooding commenced in Oklahoma. Thunderstorms produced 7 to 9 inches of rain in central Oklahoma. Oklahoma City reported 4.33 inches of rain in six hours. Up to six inches of rain caused flooding in north central Texas.

...1988... Sunny and warm weather prevailed across much of the nation to kick off the Memorial Day weekend. Afternoon thunderstorms in southern Florida caused the mercury at Miami to dip to a record low reading of 69 degrees.

...1989... Unseasonably hot weather prevailed in the southeastern U.S. Ten cities reported record high temperatures for the date as readings soared into the 90s. Lakeland FL reported a record high of 99 degrees, and Biloxi MS reported a temperature of 90 degrees along with a relative humidity of 75 percent.

...1990... Thunderstorms produced severe weather from north central Texas to the Central Gulf Coast Region. Severe thunderstorms spawned four tornadoes, and there were eighty-one reports of large hail or damaging winds. Late afternoon thunderstorms over southeast Louisiana produced high winds which injured twenty-seven persons at an outdoor music concert in Baton Rouge, and high winds which gusted to 78 mph at the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway.

...1997... An F5 tornado killed 27 people in Jarrell, Texas. Although tornado warnings were issued 30 minutes in advance and local sirens were sounded, there were few places to go for safety. most homes were on slabs, with no basements to shelter in. Houses were swept clean off their foundations, with little debris left behind. Total damage was $20 million. The same thunderstorm complex produced a wind gust to 122 mph at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio.