Suddenly it seemed like the merry month of May under that hot sun on Thursday, but today is

more likely to remind us of April. We'll have clouds, the National Weather Service says, and a

shower or two, although we should be mostly rain free. It also won't be quite as amazingly

warm. High 50s is the prediction, a bit cooler wherever the Lake Ontario breezes are felt.

The chance of showers increases and the breeze is due to kick up tonight as a big

slow-moving storm system gets closer. That will set the stage for what's supposed to be a

thoroughly wet and windy day Saturday, with the heaviest wind and rain due after Buffalo's Old

Neighborhood St. Patrick's Day Parade in the afternoon. The most rain is expected south and

east of Buffalo, especially in the Southern Tier. There's a good chance of flooding and ice

jams Saturday and Sunday, meteorologists say.

The wind and the rain should slowly diminish on Sunday, leaving us with cooler

temperatures, but not wintry ones, for the big St. Patrick's Day Parade on Delaware Avenue.

High Sunday should be in the mid 40s, with an overnight low in the mid 30s. The outlook

brightens again on Monday with sunshine expected to return and above normal temperatures

continuing through most of next week. By then, all but the most stubborn piles of leftover

snow should be gone.

There's a new chief of the NFTA Transit Police Department today. He's George W. Gast, 59,

who came here in 1990 as supervisory special agent with the FBI field office and was a member

of the FBI counterterrorism team here before becoming assistant federal security director for

Homeland Security in Buffalo. He succeeds Joseph Riga, the former Buffalo Police Homicide

Bureau chief who headed the 100-member force since 2001 and polished up its sense of

professionalism.

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is in Florida for the next week or so, but it won't be a

spring break. The Florida Friends Tour, the orchestra's first visit to the Sunshine State in

more than 30 years, kicks off with a gala dinner and concert tonight in Fort Lauderdale and

continues Saturday in Daytona Beach, Monday in Vero Beach and Tuesday in Sarasota before

winding up next Thursday in Gainesville. Featuring pianist Fabio Bidini as guest artist, it's

an overture to the orchestra's 75th anniversary celebration this fall and it's expected to be

a major fundraising occasion.

New York's junior senator, Kirstin Gillibrand, helps get St. Patrick's Day celebrations

rolling in South Buffalo today. She's the guest speaker when the Buffalo Irish Center, 245

Abbott Road, hosts its annual civic luncheon at 11:45 a.m.

Gillibrand is likely to show her Irish roots -- her maternal grandmother, Albany area

political activist Dorothea "Polly" Noonan, inspired her to get into government. Later on at

the luncheon, there are performances by Kindred, the Blarney Bunch and the Rince na Tiarna

Irish Dancers.

And that's just the beginning of a busy weekend at the Irish Center. Another set of

festivities this evening feature the band Penny Whiskey at 8 p.m. and the Clann na Cara Irish

Dancers at 9.

Multiculturalism reigns in "Around the World With Young Audiences," today's installment of

Gusto at the Gallery in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. It includes origami as the 4:30 p.m.

art activity and salsa lessons in the 4:30 p.m. family dance workshop. Stories from around the

world are featured at 6:30, courtesy of Oracle Award-winning storyteller Lorna Czarnota. It

culminates with a performance at 7:30 by the Sankofa African Drum and Dance Ensemble from

Brockport State College.

Goin' Bald for Bucks has gone back to where the idea for it all began -- Lake Shore Central

High School. More than 150 Lake Shore Middle and High School students, faculty and staff are

shaving their heads or cutting at least 10 inches of their hair today to show support for

patients at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. They've also collected pledges to support research

and patient care at Roswell Park. Volunteer high school cosmetology students from Erie 2 BOCES

are doing the cutting.

Teacher Anthony George founded the program at the high school in 2002 to honor his sister,

Cathleen, who lost her battle with cancer in 2004. Since then, Goin' Bald for Bucks has raised

more than $600,000 for Roswell Park. Now Goin' Bald for Bucks events take place year-round all

over Western New York and beyond. For info and to donate, visit www.BaldforBucks.org.

The annual wreath-laying at the statue of Gen. Casimir Pulaski outside the Ellicott Square

takes place at 5 p.m. Numerous dignitaries are expected to join folks from the General Pulaski

Association of the Niagara Frontier, including Mayor Byron W. Brown, Erie County Sheriff

Timothy Howard and State Sen. William Stachowski.

From there, they go to the association's annual installation dinner in the Protocol

Restaurant, 6766 Transit Road, Amherst. Guest speakers include U.S. District Judge William M.

Skretny and William J. Hochul Jr., nominated to be the next U.S. attorney for Western New

York. Honored will be local veteran Daniel Owczarczak, who received a Top Three Award for

selfless dedication while serving with the Air Force Reserve in Kirkuk, Iraq.

The Buffalo Home & Garden Show returns today to start its second weekend in the Buffalo

Niagara Convention Center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are

$10 adults, $7 online at www.buffalohomeshow.com. Featured celebrity this weekend is

naturalist Jarod Miller, the Southtowns native who hosts the nationally syndicated TV show

"Animal Exploration." He'll emcee the pet fashion show at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Starcherone Books, started by Medaille College professor Ted Pelton to publish a book by

his mentor Raymond Federman, sponsors its annual "Naked Kitchen Yoga," featuring brief

readings by a throng of the area's leading poets and fiction writers, at 7 p.m. in WNY Book

Arts Collaborative, 468 Washington St. Admission is $6 and includes a beverage and a chance to

win all 20 of the books Sarcherone has published.

Mark Farner, the singer and guitarist from Grand Funk Railroad, rocks the Bear's Den in

Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $50.

Neon Indian, the brainchild of youthful multi-instrumentalist Alan Palomo, creates an

electronic blur of sound that may seem like an acid trip, depending on what you've been doing

earlier in the evening. He's bringing a full band to create his psychedelic haze in Soundlab,

110 Pearl St. Opening the show at 9 p.m. is a like-minded local crew, Wooden Waves. Tickets

are $15.

Tonight's the last chance to see "Vianney," the one-man show about the life of St. John

Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. Those who saw Shakespearean actor Leonardo

Defilippis' performances in the role earlier in the week described them as gripping and

powerful. It's at Christ the King Seminary, 711 Knox Road, East Aurora, starting at 7.

The Sabres seek to extend their winning streak when they host the Minnesota Wild at 7:30

p.m. in the second-to-last Friday night game of the regular season in HSBC Arena. Watch on the

MSG Channel. Listen on WGR 550 AM.

St. Bonaventure, having dispatched Duquesne in the opening round of the Atlantic 10

playoffs, hits the boards in Atlantic City against top-seeded Temple at noon, and we'll get to

see it. Watch on Time Warner SportsNet.

Movies opening today include "Fish Tank," an art-house film about a teenage girl growing up

in public housing in England; "Green Zone," with Matt Damon as an Army officer hunting for

weapons of mass destruction; "Our Family Wedding," a mixed marriage wedding comedy starring

America Ferrara and Carolos Mencia; "Remember Me," a romantic drama centering on two gloomy

teens and which includes Pierce Brosnan as one of the adults; and "She's Out of My League,"

starring Jay Baruchel as a geeky guy who gets lucky.