Remnants of a recent heat wave remain in several areas of the West, with above normal high temperatures expected this week.

Participants: Rod Bain and USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.

Transcript

The predominant part of a ridge of high pressure across the country has bubbled over to the coastal areas in recent days.

According to USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey, We've gotten a big break from the heat in the middle part of the country, and that certainly includes the northern plains into the Midwest.

Temperatures have actually fallen to below normal levels for several days recently, and that continues into this week.

Heat, meanwhile, has become the focal weather pattern in much of the West.

As you look west of the Rockies, we have established a monsoon circulation, but at this point, we're seeing primarily showers and thunderstorms confined to the southeastern half of the Four Corners region, meaning parts of Arizona, generally the southeastern part of the state, New Mexico doing pretty well, and parts of southern and eastern Colorado getting into that monsoon circulation.

The rest of the West is dry and increasingly hot, so that's one area that we will be focused on for heat.

I'm Rod Bain, reporting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.