Scorching heat hits Nashville again

Scorching heat continues to hover over Middle Tennessee, with high temperatures expected to remain lodged in the mid-to-upper-90s through the weekend.

• If the high reaches 100° on Wednesday, it would be the first time Nashville has hit triple digits in nearly 10 years.

Why it matters: Extreme heat has a serious impact on health. It can be especially dangerous for children, pregnant people and other vulnerable populations, Axios' Arielle Dreher reports.

• Summers are becoming deadlier as climate change blankets millions in heat waves with public health consequences that were not fully understood until recently.

Driving the news: National Weather Service meteorologist Sam Shamburger tells Axios a "really persistent upper-level ridge of high pressure" is keeping hot and dry conditions parked over the region.

Yes, but: Shamburger said the humidity will be lower this week, which will keep the heat index more in line with the actual temperature.

• "It won't feel quite as brutal as it did last week," he says. "Even without the humidity, it's going to be plenty hot out there."

Zoom out: Axios' Andrew Freedman writes that the unrelenting heat wave has broken records and created dangerous conditions across the country for the past two weeks, contributing to wildfires and severe thunderstorms that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands across the Midwest.

• Record-breaking heat is also pushing through Europe this month.

Flash forward: Shamburger says long-range models suggest Nashville could get some relief starting next week, with rain and relatively lower temperatures possible.