A heat dome will smash record highs in the northern Rockies and Northern Plains beginning this weekend, then will spread searing heat and humidity across the Midwest and East next week.

Many national parks are going to be hit by this heat wave, including Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as the "Mighty 5" in Utah. If your summer travels bring you there this weekend, prepare for it to be much hotter than you might expect. 

(MORE: What is a heat dome?)

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Rockies, Northern Plains forecast

Heat alerts

Extreme heat watches and warnings stretch from Utah to parts of the Dakotas and northern Minnesota.

An extreme heat watch is issued when conditions are favorable for an extreme heat event that could lead to heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke, within the next 24 to 48 hours. Watches are upgraded to warnings when those conditions become more certain.

This is the time to plan to suspend all major outdoor activities if a warning is issued. If you do not have air conditioning, locate the nearest cooling shelter or discuss staying with nearby family or friends who have air conditioning.

How hot will it get?

Highs will soar into the triple digits each day through Monday, perhaps even Tuesday, in parts of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and the Dakotas. A few areas of the northern High Plains could reach or top 110 degrees during this heat wave.

In some of these areas, especially in larger cities, morning lows may not drop below 70 degrees.

At least some modest heat relief may arrive to some of these areas Tuesday through Thursday.

(MORE: 5 things to know to stay safe in a heat wave)

All-time records?

These forecast highs may not just shattered records for a particular day, but they could approach, tie or top the hottest temperatures on record for some locations in the Rockies and Northern Plains.

Salt Lake City could flirt with its all-time record of 107 degrees set on five different days, most recently on July 17 and Sept. 7, 2022.

Billings, Montana, could see its first high in the 110s in 92 years of records dating to 1934. That's just one of almost two dozen locations in eastern Montana and Wyoming that could flirt with their all-time record highs.

(MORE: What's your state's all-time heat record?)

Midwest, East forecast

When will it arrive?

The upper Midwest will be the first to see the hotter weather arrive this weekend, especially in Minnesota.

Then the hot, humid air mass will ooze its way through the rest of the Midwest by Monday and reach the East by Tuesday.

How hot will it get?

Many of these areas will see temperatures soar into the 90s by the afternoon. A few areas in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest could approach 100 degrees around the middle of the week.

This could set some daily records Tuesday and Wednesday in parts of the Northeast from New England and upstate New York to the mid-Atlantic states.

Morning lows, especially in larger cities, may languish in the middle or upper 70s, offering little evening or nighttime relief.

(MORE: America's deadliest weather is heat, not tornadoes or hurricanes)

When will relief arrive?

For now, forecast models are suggesting a fairly strong cold front could plunge out of eastern Canada into the Northeast Tuesday into Wednesday.

That could bring heat relief from the northern Great Lakes to New England by mid-late week.

It could also trigger severe thunderstorms with damaging winds ahead of the front.

(MAPS: 10-day US forecast highs and lows)