...1879... A major outbreak of severe weather occurred in Kansas and western Missouri. In Kansas, tornadoes killed eighteen persons at Delphos, and thirty persons at Irving. Two tornadoes struck the town of Irving within a few minutes time virtually wiping the small Kansas community off the map. The second tornado was perhaps two miles wide, and exhibited multiple vortices.

...1908... The remnants of hurricane # 2 passed northwest of Rhode Island on this day. Newport, Rhode Island received .87 inches of rain and a wind gust of 37 miles per hour.

...1931... The temperature peaked at 90 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 85 degrees that was set in 1929.

...1942... At Newport, Rhode Island the heat index soared to 94 degrees, breaking the record of 92 degrees set in 1929.

...1948... A railroad bed acting as a dam gave way during a flood along the Columbia River destroying the town of Vanport OR. The nearly 19,000 residents escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs. (David Ludlum)

...1948... Twenty carloads of glass were needed in Denver CO to replace that destroyed by a severe hailstorm.

...1970... The low temperature fell to 39 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island, setting the record low for the date. The previous low was 42 degrees that was set in 1949.

...1983... Unusually high temperatures throughout the western United States caused great runoff from snow pack in the Rocky Mountains. This caused flooding which washed out bridges and caused mudslides in Nevada.

...1985... The temperature in Oklahoma City reached a sizzling 104 degrees, making it the highest ever for so early in the season. Also, this marked the first time the temperature had reached the 100 degree mark in the month of May for the city.

...1986... Hanford, Washington hit a scorching 104 degrees, breaking the all-time record high temperature for May for eastern Washington. Yakima, Washington hit 102 degrees, a record high for the month of May for Yakima. Record heat also continued across the northern 1/2 of the country with records falling in Baltimore, Boise, Duluth, Marquette and Reno. Newark, New Jersey had its 4th day in a row over 90 degrees, making this a record breaking May heat wave for Newark. The previous record heat wave was from May 28-30, 1931.

...1987... Unseasonably warm weather prevailed across the eastern U.S. Eighteen cities, from Virginia to Ohio and Michigan, reported record high temperatures for the date. Afternoon highs of 97 degrees at Baltimore MD and Washington D.C., and 98 degrees at Newark NJ, were records for the date.

...1988... Memorial Day heralded heavy snow in some of the mountains and higher passes of Wyoming, closing roads in Yellowstone Park. McDonald Pass MT was blanketed with eight inches of snow, while the temperature at Miles City MT soared to 94 degrees. A "super cell" thunderstorm in west Texas produced baseball size hail in Bailey and Lamb counties, and up to five inches of rain in less than an hour.

...1989... Thunderstorms produced severe weather from the Upper Mississippi Valley to the Upper Ohio Valley during the day. A powerful (F-4) tornado injured three persons and caused a million dollars damage at New Providence IA. Baseball size hail was reported at Blue Earth MN.

...1990... Thunderstorms developing along a warm front spawned fourteen tornadoes in northeastern Texas during the late afternoon and evening hours. The thunderstorms also produced baseball size hail near Marshall, wind gusts to 77 mph at Commerce, and up to five inches of rain. Thunderstorms over southwestern Kansas produced up to six inches of rain.

...1991... 3 thunderstorms produced 5.65 inches of rain in a 3 hour period across New Marlboro and Sheffield, Massachusetts resulting in severe flooding. Many roads and several bridges were washed out eventually isolating the 2 towns. About 89 miles of road were damaged. Typical washouts ranged up to 8 feet deep and roads that were 25 feet wide were reduced to only 10 feet. Power outages were widespread and a state of emergency was declared. The flooding was the worst since 1955 for the area and total damage was estimated near 10 million dollars.

...1998... Most of the town of Spencer, South Dakota was destroyed by an F4 tornado. 6 people were killed, 150 were injured, and total damage was $18 million.

...2011... The dew point rose to 71 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the previous record of 70 degrees that was set in 1959.