In the midst of yet another heat wave, AccuWeather RealFeel temperatures were expected to be as high as 105 to 110 throughout the day.

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As of 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, the RealFeel temperature hit 97 degrees in midtown Manhattan, and at noon it hit 99. By 1:00 p.m. it had reached all the way to 101 degrees, but by 2:00 it dipped back to 97.

Friday was the area’s third consecutive day of 90-plus degree temperatures. It got as high as 93 degrees on Friday at 1:57 p.m. On Saturday, an excessive heat warning was in effect until 6:00 p.m.

CHECK: Forecast | Advisories & Warnings

“Of course we’ve had plenty of hot weather so far this summer, but today will be the hottest day of the season so far,” AccuWeather meteorologist Eric Wilhelm told 1010 WINS. “Temperatures in the city will make a run at the record of 100. Today will be much more humid than it was yesterday.”

1010 WINS’ Steve Sandberg reports 

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City health officials are urging everyone to be careful. Thomas Matte, the Assistant Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said that children, older adults and people with disabilities are most at risk.

And he told 1010 WINS that people should try to stay indoors as much as they can — with the air conditioning on.

WCBS 880′s Sophia Hall reports 

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“Set [the air conditioning] so that you’re comfortable in light clothes,” Matte said. “If you don’t like the cold feeling, then adjust your air conditioner so you’re comfortable. If you can’t use an air conditioner — if you don’t have one at home — see if you can get to an air-conditioned place, even for part of the day, to get a break from the heat. And staying hydrated, drinking water — even if you’re not thirsty — is very important when it gets hot.”

EXTRA: Find A Cooling Center | Safety Tips | Send Us Your Photos

The city has set up cooling centers to help keep people feeling refreshed. Cooling off at the library isn’t an option for patrons at five Brooklyn branches and one Queens branch, however. The libraries have closed because the air conditioning can’t keep up, and they’re expected to reopen next week.

WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb reports 

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Con Edison of New York has cut voltage in five percent of the southeast Bronx, and is urging people to conserve power where they can.

Also, there are expected to be heavy, damaging thunderstorms on Saturday that could mean major outages across the area tonight into Sunday. There is a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for the Tri-State Area.

What are your plans for this brutally hot Saturday? Let us know in the comments section below…

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A nor’easter has started to pound the Tri-State area.

AccuWeather meteorologist Eric Wilhelm said that the Tri-State area is going to see a lot of rain and dangerous winds before the storm tapers off early Monday morning.

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CBS 2′s Elise Finch reported that wind gusts have reached 45mph at times and that up to four-inches of rain is possible in some areas. Over two inches of rain has already fallen in some areas in New York and New Jersey.

Flood alerts will remain in effect through Monday morning.

Be sure to keep it locked to 1010 WINS for the latest AccuWeather updates as news on the potential storm develops.

Power outages have already been reported in New Jersey where there are at least 2,500 PSE&G customers without power.

Residents of New York and Connecticut have also been affected by power outages although to a far lesser extent.

“Additional crews and equipment are available to respond to outages that may occur as a result of the spring storm,” according to a statement released by PSE&G.

The storm has already caused highway flooding throughout the tri-state area, and a fallen trees has resulted in delays on Route 4 in Englewood, NJ.

CBS 2′s Dave Carlin hit the streets in Mobile 2 and spoke to New Yorkers who were out weathering the storm.

Carolyn Montgomery-Forant, Co-Owner of Cafe Forant on the West Side, said that the cafe loses fourteen seats when it rains.

“They come and they squeeze together, and it’s like a party. We kind of like rainy days,” she said.

Officials have asked residents to avoid unnecessary travel and remain indoors.

Things have already started to get difficult for drivers in Suffolk County where downpours and high winds are believed to be responsible for knocking over a tree in Lake Ronkonkoma.

The LIRR and Metro North have said that they will bring in extra crews to prepare for the morning rush in the event of flooding or if debris needs to be cleared off of the tracks.

What do you make of this sudden change in weather? Offer your thoughts and comments below…

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expandable modern bench Friend Bench

The First is this bench I made after finding an old scaffolding sitting unused in my garage. After lookin at it for a few minutes I thought…hey I have a new patio, lets make a bench out of that sonofabitch. So after figuring out how to put some legs on it, the Friend bench was born. When it’s closed it’s about six feet. But when more people show up (As they always do.) You can pick up one side and drag it out to to about ten feet and it will seat 5 or 6 people.

Want me to make you one? Send me an email.

Friend Bench Closed

Friend Bench Open

The question of how to build how-to machines intrigues scientists past, present and future. Image by x ray delta one via Flickr.

For this Brains and Beakers workshop, Youth Radio hosted Eric Wilhelm, founder of instructables.com. Eric is an MIT-educated engineer and avid kite-surfer. He started making his own surfing equipment and then writing about it online. Soon, he picked up a following. Other people wanted to share their own projects and create a Do-It-Yourself community. And so instructables was born. Now, Eric’s running a business, but he still thinks like a scientist—isolating variables, making interventions, assessing data, and then starting that cycle again—to grow his enterprise.

In the first segment  [3:36], Wilhelm elaborates on how he started the site and describes how it works.

Audio – how to build a how-to machine 1

Audio – how to build a how-to machine 2

In this video, Eric spotlights one instructables project: LED throwies. See how one group of artists used this technique to create illuminated graffiti.

This post originally appeared at http://www.youthradio.org on January 29, 2009.