Longest day of the year: Tuesday marks the summer solstice and the first day of summer
Tuesday marks the first day of summer and the occurrence of the summer solstice in Wichita. The solstice marks the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of a new season, meteorologist Kelly Butler says.
The event started at around 4:13 a.m. in Wichita. The solstice occurs when one of Earth’s poles is at its maximum tilt of 23.5 degrees toward the sun, Butler said.
“Since the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun in June, it receives more sunlight during the course of the day. The north pole’s tilt toward the sun is greatest at the solstice, so this event marks the longest day of the year north of the equator,” according to timeanddate.
Conversely, it is the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, in countries like Brazil. The June solstice marks the start of summer in the north, and the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, Butler said.
In terms of daylight, the summer solstice is five hours and 13 minutes longer than the Dec. solstice. The sun is set to start going down around 8:54 p.m. in Wichita, according to timeanddate.
This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Longest day of the year: Tuesday marks the summer solstice and the first day of summer."