May 3: Start of National Hurricane Preparedness Week 2020[edit]

1986: The GOES-G weather satellite, intended to replace the GOES 5 whose main imaging instrument had failed, was destroyed when the Delta 3914 rocket intended to deliver it failed to reach orbit due to an electrical fault.

1999: The second costliest tornado outbreak in history hit the area around Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, including an F5 tornado that destroyed thousands of homes and killed 36 people.

2000: The GOES 11 weather satellite was launched. Part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite program, GOES 11 was used as a backup satellite until it replaced the GOES 10 in 2006, and would provide weather forecasting data mainly for the Western United States and Pacific Ocean from 2006 until its retirement in 2011.

2016: A major wildfire, sustained by high winds and record-high temperatures, swept through the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, forcing an evacuation of all 88,000 of the city's residents and destroying 2,400 buildings.