A strengthening ridge of high pressure centered over the middle of the nation will force the jet stream to bulge northward from the Rockies into southern Canada and across the northern Great Lakes this weekend.

This will allow the core of heat that is centered across the Plains to expand north and eastward. Widespread temperatures in the 90s are expected from Montana into Minnesota and southern Ontario. This heat will also expand into Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.

Temperatures will soar past 100 degrees across the southern and central Plains with cities like Dallas, Oklahoma City and Wichita firmly locked into the heat.

Story by AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Eric Leister