A heat wave could bake much of the western United States, including Colorado, as temperatures are forecast to climb to above 110 degrees Fahrenheit this week in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Palm Springs, California.

In Pueblo, the forecasted high is expected to be 95 degrees Wednesday and 96 degrees Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures are not expected to set new records locally, but are going to be slightly higher than usual for this time of year, said Mark Wankowski, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Pueblo.

The “above seasonal” temperatures are caused by a high pressure system, Wankowski said, which usually means that there is less moisture and clouds, as well as warmer temperatures.

Still, since June 1 is considered the meteorological start of summer, “it’s pretty much on time that we start seeing temperatures in the 90s,” Wankowski said.

This weather system is not related to the monsoon season that often develops in “late June into early July,” he added. During monsoons, a high-pressure system usually helps bring moisture from the Pacific Ocean into Colorado through the deserts in the southwestern U.S. and the Baja California area of Mexico.

The high-pressure system is expected to alleviate over Pueblo by this weekend, Wankowski said, as it is expected to shift back to the west. That could lead to more available moisture, which could affect temperatures.

“With better available moisture, we will see better chances of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. And with better chances of afternoon showers and thunderstorms, we’ll see temperatures cooling back to normal,” Wankowski said. “It’s all kind of intertwined.”

For the rest of the summer, Pueblo could have slightly warmer temperatures and less precipitation than usual. That’s according to the NWS Climate Prediction Center.

Long term, human-induced climate change could bring less precipitation to Pueblo, but Wankowski said that we don’t have any “definitive answers.”

Anna Lynn Winfrey is a reporter at the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Heat wave to hit Pueblo, Colorado and western U.S.