Weather Tidbits: The Summer Solstice

This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing the summer solstice, which is also known as the first day of summer. The word solstice derives from the Latin words “sol”, and “sistere”. “Sol” stands for the sun and “sistere” means to stand still. This is in relation to the sun standing still. A solstice occurs when the Earth’s tilt toward and away from the sun is at maximum. This occurs during the summer and winter solstices. The hemisphere tilted toward the sun during a solstice is in the summer solstice, which is the case in the Northern Hemisphere around June 20-21. 2024’s summer solstice is on June 20 at 4:50pm.

The summer solstice features the sun at the highest point in the sky all year. It is also the longest day of the year. In Salisbury, there are 14 hours and 50 minutes of daylight on the summer solstice. Afterward up to the winter solstice, the days will gradually get shorter. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, with Salisbury receiving 9 hours and 29 minutes of sunlight.