New York Today: Hotter Than…

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times The devil will get his weather back eventually, but probably not till Sunday, forecasters say.

As you sit â€" sweating, stifling and sweltering - here’s one thing to be grateful for: it’s not 1953.

On this day in 1953, it was 100 degrees, a record.

On Wednesday, it will be several degrees shy of that â€" about 93, according to the National Weather Service.

Blame the high pressure system hovering over our heads as it wends its way back west from whence it came.

By the weekend, however, expect some relief. High temperatures will drop to the mid-80s.

Here’s what else you need to know to start your Wednesday.

AMBER ALERT

Some of you might have been jolted awake around 4 a.m. by a blaring sound on your phone.

“Thought my phone was about to explode,” read a post on Twitter.

It turned out to be an Amber Alert on “Notify NYC” for a 7-month-old abducted by his mother from a child-welfare building on Tuesday afternoon.

People subscribe to Notify NYC alerts to be warned about events like evacuation orders.

City officials could not be reached at 5 a.m. to explain why such a high-level warning was used for an Amber Alert, which is not typical.

But we are pressing for more details, so stay tuned.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit Northbound N and Q trains running express in Queens. Click for the latest status.

- Roads [5:51] O.K. so far, 1010 WINS reports.

Alternate-side parking rules: in effect.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayoral candidates, including William C. Thompson Jr., Bill de Blasio and Anthony D. Weiner, take part in a forum about agriculture and nutrition at the New School tonight.

- Heirloom tomatoes at dusk! A night greenmarket - 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. â€" opens at Union Square.

- “The Lorax” is in Queens and “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” goes down in Brooklyn. There are free movies in city parks in at least four boroughs on Wednesday night.

- Bands rock out to raise money for Wounded Warriors in Midtown and the warriors themselves will be in Farmingdale, NY at the Marriott. They will be kicking off Soldier Ride, a bicycling tour that begins on Friday and helps veterans cope with injury.

- Ask a stranger anything you want on stage at “Ask Roulette,” at Housing Works in Manhattan. According to an organizer: “It’s weird, it’s fun.”

- It’s “New York Surf Week.” Watch a bunch of surfers do their stuff on Long Beach.

- For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.

Michaelle Bond contributed reporting.

We’re testing New York Today, which we put together just before dawn and update until noon.

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