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The summer solstice arrives Wednesday, June 21, at 10:57 a.m. EDT, marking the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
Here's what the summer solstice really is and what it means in terms of daylight hours, as well as sunrise and sunset times.
The summer solstice occurs due to the tilt of the Earth and its orbit around the sun. The Earth spins on an axis tilted 23.5 degrees from the Earth's orbit around the sun.
As a result, the most direct sunlight shifts between a band of latitudes on the Earth throughout the year, providing the change of seasons we know in the middle and higher latitudes.
At solar noon on Wednesday, the sun will be directly over the Tropic of Cancer, a line of latitude located at 23.5 degrees north of the equator.
During the summer, the Northern Hemisphere receives the most direct sunlight because it is tilted toward the sun. Think of the summer solstice as the exact moment each year when the North Pole is most directly oriented toward the sun.
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T?he summer solstice is the longest day of the year. The configuration discussed above results in the greatest amount of daylight of any day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere on the summer solstice.
Along the Arctic Circle, at roughly 66.6 degrees north latitude, the sun doesn't set on the summer solstice. Instead, the sun takes a circular path as the Earth rotates.
A?reas across the northern tier of the Lower 48 will generally receive between 15 and 16 hours of daylight on the summer solstice. Farther south, the length of daylight is closer to 14 hours.
Soon after the summer solstice, the length of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere will gradually shorten each day until the winter solstice in December, when the least amount of daylight occurs.
T?he earliest sunrise and latest sunsets are not necessarily on the summer solstice. The earliest sunrises of the season are in mid-June for most of the contiguous United States.
The earliest sunrise in Boston is at 5:06 a.m. from June 12 to 17, while in Los Angeles, it is at 5:41 a.m. from June 5 to 21.
However, the latest sunsets typically occur after the summer solstice.
M?inneapolis experiences its latest sunset of 9:03 p.m. from June 20 through July 2. The latest sunset in Washington, D.C., is at 8:37 p.m. from June 22 through July 3.
L?ocations in Alaska south of the Arctic Circle experience their earliest sunrises and sunsets in mid to late June. The earliest sunrise in Anchorage is at 4:20 a.m. from June 16 to 22 and the latest sunset is at 11:42 p.m. from June 21 to 24.
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