Over the top: Buffalo hits 91 degrees
For 742 days the temperature in Buffalo rose as high as 89 degrees six times and dipped as low as minus-10 twice.
Wednesday, following a pair of back-to-back 89 degree afternoons, the mercury finally reached 90 degrees -- and added one more for good measure -- thus ending the sixth-longest span of days without a 90 degree mark in the city's recorded weather history.
The National Weather Service reported that the temperature at Buffalo struck 91 degrees at 1:29 p.m., meeting forecast projections heading into the day.
It's likely to be the last of the spate of sultry summer weather that began last weekend, however, a cold front is expected to blow through Western New York late tonight. With it, will be the chance of showers and thunderstorms, especially after 1 a.m.

A line of showers and thunderstorms associated with an approaching cold front was expected to reach Western New York shortly after midnight Thursday. (National Weather Service)
By Thursday morning, skies should clear setting up a mostly sunny, clear and breezy day in Buffalo. It'll be cooler with daytime high temperatures in the low 80s, according to the forecast.
Before Wednesday's streak-breaking mark, the last day in Buffalo when the thermometer went above 90 degrees was July 16, 2013 when it struck 92. It was the third straight day of 90 degree marks.
Despite the break-through into the 90s, the temperature fell three degrees shy of the record for the day -- 94 degrees set in 1955.
A lot has changed in Buffalo since that last 90 degree day in July 2013. Take, for instance:

It was the day after more than 2,000 people packed a SUNY Fredonia auditorium to demand the coal-fired Dunkirk electric plant be repowered with natural gas. (T.J. Pignataro/Buffalo News)

Construction of the HarborCenter hadn't yet begun above ground at Washington and Scott streets downtown. (T.J. Pignataro/Buffalo News)

The, then, three-day streak of 90-degree weather made news on July 16, 2013, the last day it hit 90 in Buffalo before Wednesday. (Buffalo News)
Here's a look at where the latest streak of days below 90 stacked up on the all-time list:
Rank
|
Days
|
Ending Date
|
---|---|---|
1 | 1487 | 1973-07-23 |
2 | 1391 | 1999-06-10 |
3 | 1082 | 1982-07-06 |
4 | 1034 | 2010-07-07 |
5 | 1003 | 2005-06-08 |
6 | 742 | 2015-07-28 |
7 | 738 | 1985-07-24 |
8 | 684 | 2001-06-13 |
9 | 673 | 1987-05-29 |
10 | 667 | 1962-07-06 |
Period of record: 1938-05-01 to 2015-07-28 |
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