A massive upper-level high will envelop most of the contiguous U.S. in the last half of July, setting up what could be a prolonged bout of extreme heat for millions of Americans. If the scorching weather persists into August, the odds of a “flash drought” in the nation’s heartland will rise sharply (along with the odds that the U.S. will notch its hottest summer on record, in line with what’s very likely to be Earth’s warmest year on record).

(CNN) The dog days of summer are hitting hard this year, and forecasters warn that some of the hottest temperatures of the season may sear a large portion of the United States this week.

Dangerous, potentially record-breaking heat will scorch portions of the Southwest and Plains through the weekend.

Most of the continental United States is facing elevated chances of well above average summer temperatures, according to the latest outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

April 2016 was the warmest April on record for the globe, making it the 12th consecutive month that earth has recorded its warmest respective month on record. NOAA's global State of the Climate report released Wednesday found April's temperature over the Earth's surface was 1.10 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average. This crushed the previous warmest April set in 2010 by 0.28 degrees Celsius.