Sweat season is here: Summer solstice arrives Thursday

Sweat season is finally here.

The summer solstice — the annual moment when the sun is at its highest point in the sky — occurs Thursday at 6:07 a.m. ET. This also marks the beginning of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

In reality it's been summer for three weeks. Meteorologists consider summer to be June, July and August — the hottest three months of the year.

Hot weather got a jump-start in May, as the U.S. sweltered in its warmest May since record-keeping began in the late 1800s.

The forecast for the next few weeks shows warmer-than-average temperatures for nearly the entire nation, according to the Climate Prediction Center.

On average, there is a one-month lag between the solstice and peak summer temperatures, according to climatologist Brian Brettschneider.

Specifically, the summer solstice is the moment when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer. This is the farthest north the sun moves in the sky, which is why the days close to the solstice have the most daylight of the year.

People in Anchorage, Alaska, for example, will get 19 hours of daylight, while those in Seattle and New York City will see more than 15 hours. Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta will see more than 14 hours of daylight, while Miami and Honolulu will see less than 14 hours.

Some people call it "the longest day," but it's actually the day with the most daylight, to be precise, since every "day" has 24 hours.

The amount of daylight will stay about that length for a few more days before slowing shrinking each day until the winter solstice in late December.

Many people around the world celebrate the summer solstice with music and festivities. In England, hundreds of people travel at the ancient site of Stonehenge to celebrate the first day of summer. Solstice celebrations there have been going on for thousands of years.

Also Thursday: It's the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, meaning it's going to start getting colder for the 12 percent of the world's population that lives there.

Contributing: Chuck Campbell, Knoxville News Sentinel

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