Even if you love the heat and the humidity, it's going to be hard to like today's heat and humidity. The National Weather Service expects a heat index in the mid- to upper 90s, stickiest of the summer so far. And then there's going to be a blast furnace of a breeze, which could crank up to 20 to 30 mph later today as the cold front approaches.
Record highs for July 17 are 94 degrees in Buffalo and 97 degrees in Rochester. Forecasters say we're not likely to break them, but we'll come close. We're in for a sweltering evening, too, until the thunderstorms roll in late tonight.
Wednesday promises to be cloudy and unsettled. Temperatures should be a bit cooler - low to mid-80s - and there might be another shot or two of that much-needed rain. After the front moves through, Wednesday night should be refreshingly cool.
After that, get ready for a stretch of ideal summer weather straight through the weekend - gloriously sunny days with highs around 80 and starry nights in the upper 50s and low 60s.
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If they can't put a gas station in front of it, officials from Tops Markets aren't saying they'll close the store at Grant and Amherst streets, but they concede that the store is underperforming and needs new revenue streams. Turned down in a bid for gas pumps eight years ago, the company has redrawn its plans, which include sprucing up the store. Representatives are supposed to show the plans to Buffalo's City Planning Board when it meets at 8:15 a.m. in Room 901 of City Hall.
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The Vans Warped Tour keeps getting bigger. This year's edition, which rolls into the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center today, has a talent pool of more than 100 emerging punk-rock and assorted high-energy bands, including Buffalo's Every Time I Die. At least 50 will play from multiple stages between noon and 9 p.m., but fans won't know which ones until they get there. First order of business upon passing through the gates, which open at 11:30 a.m., is to look for the list of bands and set times next to the main Vans tent. Tickets are $32 and $42.
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Twenty-one youngsters from New York City arrive today at the Erie Community College North Campus in Amherst to meet the volunteer families that will host them for the next two weeks or so under the Fresh Air Fund program. The fund has been sending underprivileged city kids out for free summer vacations in rural, suburban and small-town communities for 135 years. Some of today's group will be coming back for repeat visits with their host families.
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Can the progressive rock group Yes achieve all of its soaring glories without the signature voice of original singer Jon Anderson? Tradition-minded fans say no, but according to reviews from earlier dates in the group's current tour, the verdict is affirmative. The new vocalist, Jon Davison, who used to front a Yes tribute band in Tennessee, is up to the task, they say. Highest praise, however, is heaped on one of the original members, guitarist Steve Howe, who plays as many as five different instruments during one of the group's lengthy symphonic songs. They appear at 6:30 p.m. in the Tuesday in the Park series at Artpark with Procol Harum, of "Whiter Shade of Pale" fame, as opener.
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There's a new route for the annual parade tonight at the Canal Fest of the Tonawandas. It starts at 6:30 from Grove and Minerva streets in the City of Tonawanda and proceeds to Webster and Goundry streets on the other side of the canal in North Tonawanda.
Other attractions today include the Mayor's Ride at 6 p.m., in which the winning mayor from Monday's civic tug of war gets a ride across the canal bridge from the losing mayor. Right after the parade, the award-winning Tonawandas Post 264 American Legion Band will give a free concert in the Legion Hall, 60 Main St., City of Tonawanda.
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Marine ecologist Enric Sala, a scientific researcher for Spain's National Council for Scientific Research and an explorer-in-residence for National Geographic magazine, talks about protecting underseas ecosystems as "Water Matters" week continues in the lecture series at 10:45 a.m. in the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater.
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The Billy Baroo Band performs at 6:15 p.m. to kick off the free Children's Concert Series sponsored by the Kenmore Village Improvement Society at Kenmore Middle School on Delaware Road. In case of rain, it moves to the Community Center on Wilbur Avenue across from Mang Park. Reasonably priced dinner food, beverages and desserts will be available, KVIS president Melissa Foster notes. The series continues through Aug. 14.
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Free outdoor performances today include the Frankfurters at noon in the Plaza Event Series at One M&T Plaza across from Main Place Mall in downtown Buffalo; the Vinnie DeRosa Band at noon in the Summer Concert Series outside the Student Union on the University at Buffalo North Campus in Amherst; the Doug Yeomans Band at 6:30 p.m. at the Burchfield Nature & Art Center, 2001 Union Road, West Seneca; and Glenn Colton at 6:30 p.m. at the Alden Public Library, 13280 Broadway, Alden.
Also the original Pointless Brothers at 7 p.m. in Bassett Park, Klein and Youngs roads, Amherst; Caitlin and the Moses Band at 7 p.m. in the Elmwood Village Summer Concert Series on Bidwell Parkway; the Clarence Summer Band at 7 p.m. at the Orchard Park Pavilion, 60 S. Lincoln Ave., Orchard Park; LeeRon Zydeco at 7 p.m. at Eden Elementary School, 8289 N. Main St., Eden; and the Lancaster Town Band in a "Remembering the 1980s" show at 7:30 p.m. in the Lancaster Band Shell, Artel Metz Drive, Lancaster.
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The updated version of the comedy "The Three Stooges" leads the list of recent feature films finding their way to home video formats today. Also arriving is the romantic comedy "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," with Emily Blunt and Ewan MacGregor. Over in the music racks, new CDs are expected from Elton John with Pnau, the Australian electronic dance music duo ("Elton vs. Pnau"); reggae legend Jimmy Cliff ("Rebirth"); rapper Nas ("Life Is Good"); bluegrass whizzes Old Crow Medicine Show ("Carry Me Back"); alt-rockers Soul Asylum ("Delayed Reaction"); and Susanna Hoffs from the Bangles ("Someday").
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The lowly Toledo Mud Hens came up with two runs in the top of the ninth to spoil the Bisons' return home to Coca-Cola Field on Monday night. The two teams meet again tonight at 7:05. It's Italian Festival Night, with ethnic food specials, drink specials and music in the center-field tent area starting at 5:30. And after the game - fireworks! If you can't be there, listen on WWKB 1520 AM.
