Stormy, steamy in the Plains, Tropics heating up (forecast video)

These are the three things you need to know for Wednesday, July 10, 2019.

More summer storminess: Severe thunderstorms could strike today and tonight from central Texas to the Great Lakes. Two regions in particular are most likely to see large hail, damaging winds and/or flash flooding: from Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Springfield, Missouri; and from Green Bay, Wisconsin to Grand Rapids and Marquette, Michigan. A few severe storms could pop up in or near other cities such as Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee, but the odds are fairly low.

The heat is on: Truckers will run into dangerously hot and humid weather across a large portion of the country today. The National Weather Service has issued Heat Advisories and Excessive Heat Warnings across several states where afternoon highs will reach well into the 90s to 100°, but will feel like 105° to 115° because of the mugginess. Some of the cities under the gun are Brownsville and Dallas, Texas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Shreveport, Little Rock, St. Louis, Memphis, most of Illinois south of Chicago, Huntsville, Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi. Drivers: pack a lot of extra ice and water, and take your breaks in comfortable, cool spaces.

Tropics watch: There’s still a good chance that a disturbance off the Florida Panhandle may turn into Tropical Storm Barry sometime today or Thursday. Very warm water temperatures in the mid- to upper-80s could add a lot of energy to the storm. For now it’s dumping plenty of rain in Louisiana coastal areas, but the threat for more rain and flooding in the northern Gulf Coast may last all week, depending on the exact track and intensity of the potential tropical system.