By April M. Short

If you’re spending this week in California, Nevada, Arizona, or even parts of Wyoming and Idaho, prepare to burn. A potentially historic heat wave is headed your way from Thursday through next week, and experts warn of dangerously hot temperatures the likes of which may never before have been recorded on planet Earth.

Meteorologists say areas already dubbed “summer scorchers” are about to get hotter still. Death Valley, Calif. will reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit—just 4 degrees shy of the 1913 world record. Phoenix and Las Vegas should also prepare for the triple digits.

Climate Central reports a “stuck” weather pattern setting up across the U.S. and Canada is to blame for the swelter:

“Starting this weekend, the jet stream — a fast-moving river of air at airliner altitudes that is responsible for steering weather systems — will form the shape of a massive, slithering snake with what meteorologists refer to as a deep ‘ridge’ across the Western states, and an equally deep trough setting up across the Central and Eastern states.”

According to CBS meteorologist Jeff Berardelli, the furnace once known as the deep Southwest is in for “a once-in-a-century-type” heat wave.

Read More This Week’s Killer Heat Wave Threatens To Cause Earth’s Hottest Temps Ever | Alternet.