A few feisty afternoon storms; ‘Barry’ likely to soak Gulf Coast

Sky watchers will be busy Tuesday afternoon.

The latest short-term models favor a broken line of storms developing southwest of the Twin Cities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NAM 3 km model suggests storms are most likely to rumble near the Twin Cities between about 3 and 7 p.m.

Here's NOAA's NAM 3 km model's version of events between 2 p.m. and midnight.

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NOAA NAM 3 km model via tropical tidbits.

Marginal severe risk

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A few of the storms could approach severe limits packing 1-inch diameter hail and gusty winds to near 60 mph. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center paints a marginal risk for severe storms across Minnesota.

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NOAA

Fresh breeze Wednesday

Dew points climb toward the sticky 70-degree mark Tuesday afternoon. A cool front blows in Wednesday with more comfortable conditions Wednesday and Thursday.

Heat and humidity return by Friday and linger into the weekend.

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NOAA via Weather Bell.

Future Tropical Storm Barry?

Most models favor a developing low-pressure system over the northern Gulf of Mexico. NOAA gives the system an 80 percent chance to become Tropical Storm Barry later this week.

Hello NOAA's Global Forecast System (GFS) model. Are you there?

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Graphic: Tropical Tidbits.

The storm is likely to dump a foot of rain along the Gulf Coast with locally higher totals possible.

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NOAA 7-day rainfall outlook.

Alaska heat and smoke

You've probably been hearing about the all-time record heat in Alaska over the past week. With the heat comes wildfires and smoke. Most of southern Alaska is covered by a thick film of smoke these days.

Smoke at ground level is some of the highest on record in Anchorage.