Nashville, Middle Tennessee will feel the heat this week. Here's how hot it's expected to get

It's heating up in Nashville. According to the National Weather Service, the Middle Tennessee area is expecting a heat wave particularly Thursday into Sunday when temperatures are expected to hit the mid to high 90s.

"Heat index readings may top 100 degrees as well, so unfortunately the humidity will add to how hot it will actually feel," said National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Husted. "This heat wave is actually already ongoing, across the Midwestern United States."

The weather service describes a heat wave as a period of abnormally hot weather, generally lasting more than two days, which can occur with or without high humidity. Heat waves have the potential to cover a large area, exposing a high number of people to hazardous heat, said the weather service.

Nashville won't be the only area experiencing the brunt of the heat. While this level of heat isn't exactly rare for Tennessee, it is rare further north such as in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Kentucky. The Northeastern United States is where the impacts will be more severely felt, Husted said.

According to Husted, average high temperatures in Middle Tennessee during July are normally in the high 80s, most locations this week will be about 10 degrees above normal. Record high temperatures for Thursday through Sunday are 100 or higher, so although it won't be record-breaking hot — it'll still be pretty close.

"Either way, it'll still be quite hot compared to where we are normally at for this time of year," said Husted.

Nashville-area radar

Nashville 7-day forecast

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Heat index values will be as high as 102. A 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74 at night.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. Heat index values will be as high as 98. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74 at night.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 92. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71 at night.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. Mostly clear, with a low around 72 at night.

Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Mostly clear, with a low around 73 at night.

Saturday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75 at night.

Sunday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 99. A 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms at night.

Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @_leyvadiana

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville heat wave: How hot it will be and when