Kevin Myatt is The Roanoke Times' weather columnist.

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It's back to the same old grind for the atmospheric pattern as the new workweek starts.

High pressure is renewing its hold on the south-central United States, centered on Texas and Oklahoma, where temperatures will begin pushing to near or above the 100-degree mark for the next several days. This feature occurred in the same region much of the latter half of June, and only bent a little without entirely breaking last week.

But in the East, including Southwest Virginia, cooler northerly to northwesterly winds rotating around the clockwise-spinning high will keep sunny days in check. Expect temperatures to make just the upper 70s to mid-80s the next few days.

Some hotter weather may eventually make it to our region, though. There are signals that the high over the south-central U.S. will expand.

First, it will likely stretch more northward, toward the Northern Plains and the Upper Midwest, taking extreme heat with it. In time, the high may start expanding eastward as well, and that would bring hotter weather our way.

It's not unusual to see a heat dome like this build in July and then either shift or expand to bring searing heat to other places.

Only time will tell if this will become only the second triple-digit summer in the past decade in Roanoke. For this week, don't be surprised to see a 90-degree high by week's end.

Weather Journal appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.