Happy Summer Solstice

It’s a wonderful time of the year when the nights are short and the days are long. The sun is high in the sky and stays out longer than any other day of the year. It’s the start of summer in the northern hemisphere and up here we love the hours of never-ending daylight. How will you celebrate this annual event? There’s no better place to be than in the Boundary Waters on the longest day of the year.

Information from the Farmer’s Almanac

When is the Summer Solstice 2017?

In 2017, the summer solstice falls on Wednesday, June 21, at 12:24 A.M. EDT.

Due to time zones, this means the solstice falls on Tuesday, June 20 in CDT, MDT, and PDT as below:

• Wednesday, June 21, 12:24 A.M. EDT
• Tuesday, June 20, 11:24 P.M. CDT
• Tuesday, June 20, 10:24 P.M. MDT
• Tuesday, June 20, 9:24 P.M. PDT

What is the Summer Solstice?

The timing of the solstice depends on when the Sun reaches its northernmost point from the equator.

The word solstice is from the Latin solstitium, from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop), reflecting the fact that the Sun appears to stop at this time (and again at the winter solstice).

In temperate regions, we notice that the Sun is higher in the sky throughout the day, and its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer.

This summer solstice is the day with the most hours of sunlight during the whole year. See our handy sunrise and sunset calculator for how many hours of sunlight you get in your location.

At the winter solstice, just the opposite occurs: The Sun is at its southernmost point and is low in the sky. Its rays hit the Northern Hemisphere at an oblique angle, creating the feeble winter sunlight.