Ring of Fire Potential July 16

There is potential for a Ring of Fire to set up  from Colorado up to the US/Canada border around N. Dakota and stretching into the Northeast.
What we have above is a 500 mb chart. A 500 millibar chart displays areas of high and low pressures up in the atmosphere. Areas in orange and red are areas of low pressure system, while areas of blue are regions of high pressure, the same as a high pressure region on a surface analysis map.

The blue region in the Central Plains denotes an area of high pressure. It also floods the nation's eastern 2/3 parts with extremely hot temperatures. This is called the Ring of Fire, due to the hot temperatures and how the high pressure (also called a ridge) pushes the jet stream north into an arcing shape around the ridge.

With an area of low pressure moving east on the US/Canada, there is concern for a big severe weather event if a cold front pushes through. Below is a Day 7 surface analysis.

The warm front attached to that area of low pressure is being overtaken by the cold front. It also creates the large area of calm weather and high pressure, with the exception of a trough in Nebraska and Kansas.

We will monitor this situation. This will likely change, being 8 days away, but stay tuned as we monitor it.