Long weekend kickoff — bring sunscreen, and maybe skip the highways.

It's Friday and the weather's turned up loud. We're looking at 24°C officially, but it'll feel like 31° with the humidity—and that UV index is sitting at 9, which is high. Bring the sunscreen if you're heading outside, and if you're thinking of catching anything outside this evening (sunset's at 9:02, so you've got a solid evening window), maybe grab a shaded spot. There's a heat warning in place, so ease off if you're planning anything too heavy in the midday sun.

If you're driving anywhere, check your patience at the door. There's a disabled vehicle mucking up the 427 southbound express near the QEW, another one on the 401 westbound at Allen Road, and the 403 in Mississauga is fully blocked in the collector HOV at Matheson. The Gardiner's also got something going on westbound before Park Lawn. The 505 Dundas streetcar is back to normal between Spadina and Ossington if that's your route. Nothing catastrophic, but budget extra time if you're heading out.

On the local front, Kyle Lowry's retiring as a Raptor—his jersey's heading to the rafters. That's the kind of sendoff a guy earns around here. Meanwhile, there's a lot of noise about fans choosing five minutes with Ronaldo over a lifetime of Leafs or Raptors tickets, which is either funny or sad depending on how you look at it. Speaking of: the Portugal-Croatia match was supposed to bring people to Nathan Phillips Square, but the heat warning's nixed that one.

On the food side, if you're looking to eat tonight, the Ribfest is back at Sankofa Square downtown—live grilling all weekend, starting tonight. If pizza's your ting, Ryan Baddeley's ranked 59th in the world, which is sick; there's some serious pizza energy happening in the 6ix right now. And hey, Ronaldo's family ate at Via Norte in Little Portugal, so if you want to say you're dining where they did, it's there.

For tonight, there's plenty to do. The Pussycat Dolls are at the RBC Amphitheatre at 6:30, Tortoise is playing The Concert Hall at 7, and if you want something heavier, there's tribute acts for Dio and Black Sabbath at Rockpile. The Leafs baseball team's also playing at Christie Pits at 7:30—Barrie Baycats in town. If you'd rather catch the FIFA Fan Festival, that's running all day at Fort York and The Bentway starting at 12:30.

It's the long weekend, so make it count. Stay cool, watch the roads, and actually see your people this weekend.