June 21st marks the summer solstice. The summer solstice coincides with the point in the earth’s orbit where its axis is most directly pointed toward the sun. This is also the season when we enjoy the most hours of daylight. In Manhattan, that means we are just 4 minutes short of 15 hours of daylight. As you get closer to the Arctic Circle, of course the days get longer. Summer solstice marks the middle of the “White Nights”, where twilight conditions persist from June 10th through July 2nd. Imagine, having enough light to play ball at midnight. The downside is the winter solstice, where the sun barely peaks above the horizon, and you only see a couple of hours of daylight.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu