Torrid heat wave Midwest US final.jpg

This map shows a forecasted upper air dome of high pressure and hot air in the middle U.S. on July 22, 2016. This would produce 100-degree plus heat in the Midwest, and put Michigan in a possible 'ring of fire'.

(NOAA/weatherbell.com/Mark Torregrossa)

MICHIGAN - A blistering hot weather pattern looks like it is going to develop over the middle U.S. in the second half of next week. Michigan will be positioned just outside of the hottest weather, in a pattern we meteorologists call a "ring of fire."

A heat wave is formed when a hot dome of air builds in the entire atmosphere, from the ground to the top of the atmosphere 50,000 feet up. This is what is expected to happen late next week.

I've been seeing this situation in all of the model data for a few days now, so confidence is high that the Midwest is going to bake. Some areas of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and the Dakotas will approach 110 degrees.

On the edge of the hot dome is a weather pattern called a "ring of fire." The storm track will be positioned on the edge of the hot dome, and powerful thunderstorms can develop. The storms travel along the curved outskirts of the hot dome. Michigan would be positioned to be in the line of that parade of storms. It's called the ring of fire because if you look at a satellite animation, the storms look like fires exploding on the edge of a totally clear, sunny hot dome.

This 5,000 foot temperature anomaly forecast shows an area where temperatures aloft will be 25 degrees warmer than normal. The upper level heat makes hot temperatures at the ground. (source: NOAA/weatherbell.com)

The next few weeks are going to be very interesting weather-wise. Of course, here in the middle United States, when isn't the weather pretty crazy?

For Michigan, we better hope the ring of fire gets into full gear and dowses us with rain. There are still many spots that could use rain.

Eventually next weekend, the hot dome looks to shift toward Michigan. We could see temperatures well into the 90s, with maybe some upper 90s. It's hard to tell exactly this far out in time, but get ready for a few real hot days.

We will want to have had rain before then, or crops and landscapes could be damaged.

I don't think it will be an extended heat wave in Michigan. We will probably have one to three very hot days, and then a cool down. But this may be just the next bout with heat in what seems to be a pattern that brings hotter weather each go-round.

So get ready for the "ring of fire." I'm sorry if you have the Johnny Cash song stuck in your head now. It's a good song to be humming all day.

If you have any weather questions, please ask below.

MLive Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa has been forecasting Michigan weather for more than 25 years. He's been chief meteorologist at three television news stations in Michigan, and he's an avid gardener and hunter. Email him at mtorregr@mlive.com and find him on Facebook at facebook.com/mark.torregrossa and Twitter @weathermanmark