Breakdown: Summer Solstice - what is it & when does it start

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) -It has felt like summer for days in the Mid-South but the first official day of summer in 2022 is Tuesday, June 21. In fact there is an exact time that that summer will begin and that is 4:13 a.m. CDT. This is the moment when the North Pole tilts closest to the sun, making the sun appear at its highest point in the sky of the year.

At that moment on Tuesday, the sun will be directly above the Tropic of Cancer. That’s the farthest north the sun moves in the sky, which is why the days close to the solstice have the most daylight of the year. It’s the day with the most daylight.

We will see a similar amount of daylight will for the first days after the solstice, before shrinking each day until the winter solstice in late December.

On average, July is the hottest in the Mid-South and is often the hottest month of the year in many locations. The predictions for this year from the Climate Prediction Center through September is for warmer-than-average temperatures for majority of the U.S.

The summer solstice is celebrated around the world with music and festivals.

While we are experiencing the heat of summer, our summer solstice also marks the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.

The reason we for solstices, equinoxes and seasons is mainly due to the Earth’s tilted axis.

Copyright 2022 WMC. All rights reserved.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.