Summer Solstice: Everything You Need to Know About the Longest Day of the Year
The day many of us longed for in those short, dark, cold winter days is on its way. Sunday, June 21, is the longest day of the year, celebrated as the summer solstice. Technically, the solstice will arrive at 1:24 am PT (4:24 am ET) in the US. Here are the basic facts of the solstice.
What is the summer solstice?
As the Farmer’s Almanac explains, the solstice occurs “when the Earth reaches the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt” toward the sun, or about 23.5 degrees; this translates to the “longest day and shortest night” of the year. (By “longest day,” we mean the longest period of sunlight hours.) The Farmer’s Almanac further explains that “on the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year.”
The solstice is not always on the same date. In 2027, it will be June 21 again, but in 2028 and 2029, it will be June 20.
The June solstice means something different to people living in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter.
How much sun will you see?
The amount of sun you will get depends on where you live.
You can find your city by going to TimeAndDate.com, typing your city name under World Clock, and by clicking The Sun and the Moon. From there, click Sunrise and sunsetand scroll down to find a table showing the number of hours of daylight per day. To see the number of daylight hours you’ll get on the solstice, make sure you select the month of June, then scroll down to the correct day.
If you’re up north, you’ll get more sun: in Minneapolis, you get 15 hours, 36 minutes of sun. Seattle, you get 15 hours, 59 minutes. Boston, 15 hours, 17 minutes. San Francisco, 14 hours, 46 minutes. Los Angeles, 14 hours, 25 minutes. Dallas, you get 14 hours, 18 minutes. Miami, 13 hours 44 minutes. Atlanta, 14 hours 23 minutes. Phoenix, 14 hours and 22 minutes.
Let’s talk about the world of the Midnight Sun. Anchorage, Alaska, gets 19 hours, 21 minutes. But Fairbanks gets 21 hours, 49 minutes. And at the top of the state, in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the sun shines 24 hours a day. It’s worth going to their TimeAndDate.com page to marvel at that.
We celebrate the solstice
Some countries and cultures really get into celebrating the solstice. Sweden calls it Midsummer and always celebrates it on a Friday in June, so the country will mark the solstice on June 19 instead of June 21. Traditional celebrations there include folk dancing, wreath making and maypole raising. (And you may have seen the 2019 horror film Midsommar, which depicts a fictional and very scary midsummer celebration.)
In Seattle, home of those 16 glorious hours of the sun, the Solstice Parade and traditional Fair takes place on Saturday, June 20, at 1 pm and includes a naked bike ride for the event (where cyclists wear bright body paint).
And in England’s Stonehenge is an iconic building, people gather at the famous stone structures as their predecessors did thousands of years ago. The large stones of the monument were erected in 2500 BC to align the sunrise in summer and the sunset in winter, notes the British Museum. Note that since we are no longer in 2500 BC and rely on cars, visitors are strongly encouraged to use public transportation, and if you must drive, you must reserve a parking space in advance.
