Record high temperatures this weekend ‘are difficult for our firefighters’

(CNN) -- Record temperatures expected in the fire-ravaged Southwest will continue to worsen the deepening drought, as well as make for tough fire-fighting conditions, as an intense heat wave will be felt across most of the southern tier of the US this weekend.

"We are expecting above normal temperatures and what that means for fires is generally unstable conditions," Todd Shoemake, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, told CNN.

"So if you do start to see fire growth, a lot of times it can become pretty explosive and really rapidly gaining in power and heat."

The cities of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell, New Mexico, all have the potential to tie or break record highs this weekend and early next week, making weather conditions at the Calf Canyon/Hermits peak wildfire even more dire.