Today was the official start of summer. It officially started at 11:54 AM EDT. It’s strange that we have an exact date and time.
Today is also considered the longest day of the year. Of course, all days have 24 hours. But, on this day, also called the Summer Solstice, we have the most hours of sunlight of any day during the year.
The earth is at an angle. Twenty-three and a half degrees off it’s axis. As it rotates around the sun, that angle causes the sun to strike different areas of the earth more or less directly.
On the Summer Solstice, the earth has tilted the Northern Hemesphire as directly toward the sun as possible. The sunlight is most direct at the Northern most point. That point on the globe is also called the Tropic of Cancer. It’s at 23.5 degrees N.
So, today, at exactly 11:54 AM EDT the sun was most directly over the Tropic of Cancer. Tomorrow, the sun will be a small degree further south. The next day it will be even further South. That will continue until the sun reaches it’s Southern most extremety and sits over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees South and that will be the start of Winter.
We associate Summer with sun, naturally. What I’ve always found strange about the Summer Soltice is that it’s not the hottest day of the year. That will come later during the dog days of July and August. And yet, those days months from now, will have less sunlight than we had today.
It was a gorgeous day in Pleasant Grove today. Beautiful blue skies. White puffy clouds. And the temperature a moderate 75 degrees. A wonderful day to start the summer.
Hope it was just as wonderful where you were.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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