Summer Officially Begins Wednesday

Even though it's already been hot in North Texas during recent weeks, the season of summer doesn't officially start until the "summer solstice", which occurs this year on Wednesday at 6:09pm.

The earth is tilted on its axis about 23°, which angles each hemisphere closer to the sun during the respective summer solstices.  In the northern hemisphere, this happens each June.  We have four seasons each year because of this 23° axis tilt.

The sun's rays will appear directly over the Tropic of Cancer, which is found along the 23.5° latitude in the North Hemisphere at 6:09p CDT Wednesday, June 20.  The sun is also the farthest north in the sky at this exact time.

The summer solstice marks the day of the year when we have the most daylight in 24 hours.  From that point until the winter solstice in December, the amount of daylight each day will get shorter.