Summer Officially Starts Tuesday

Tuesday marks the official start to summer, though the season may havealready begun in the minds of many residents and some scientists across theUnited States.Summer officially begins when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer,which occurs at 1:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday. This is called the summer solstice, andmarks the longest day of the year (in terms of daylight) in the NorthernHemisphere.

In the weeks ahead, the direct rays of the sun will appear to migratesouthward, reaching the equator on the first day of autumn.

While summer may have already begun in the minds of many residents due torecent hot temperatures, some scientists would definitely say that summer iscurrently underway, since there are several different definitions for the term"summer."The summer that starts on Tuesday is defined as "astronomical summer." "Solarsummer" began in early May, and is the quarter of the year when the most amountof sunlight is entering the northern hemisphere. Astronomical summeressentially marks the midpoint of solar summer.

"Meteorological summer" is the warmest quarter of the year based on dailynormal temperatures. This exact period varies slightly from place to place;but, in general, meteorological summer starts the first week in June and endsthe first week in September.

At the midpoint of meteorological summer, normal temperatures reach theirmaximum values. For most locations, this occurs in late July or earlyAugust.

One would assume that the peak of normal temperatures coincides with the firstday of astronomical summer, but that is not the case.

Even though the most amount of solar radiation is entering the Earth on thefirst day of astronomical summer, the heat retained by the Earth continues toexceed Weather HeadlinesSat, 18 Jun 2011 14:18:06 ESTIWS0Sat, 18 Jun 2011 12:01:35 ESTSummer Officially Starts TuesdaySummer officially begins when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer,which occurs at 1:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday. This is called the summer solstice, andmarks the longest day of the year (in terms of daylight) in the NorthernHemisphere.In the weeks ahead, the direct rays of the sun will appear to migratesouthward, reaching the equator on the first day of autumn.

While summer may have already begun in the minds of many residents due torecent hot temperatures, some scientists would definitely say that summer iscurrently underway, since there are several different definitions for the term"summer."The summer that starts on Tuesday is defined as "astronomical summer." "Solarsummer" began in early May, and is the quarter of the year when the most amountof sunlight is entering the northern hemisphere. Astronomical summeressentially marks the midpoint of solar summer.

"Meteorological summer" is the warmest quarter of the year based on dailynormal temperatures. This exact period varies slightly from place to place;but, in general, meteorological summer starts the first week in June and endsthe first week in September.

At the midpoint of meteorological summer, normal temperatures reach theirmaximum values. For most locations, this occurs in late July or earlyAugust.

One would assume that the peak of normal temperatures coincides with the firstday of astronomical summer, but that is not the case.

Even though the most amount of solar radiation is entering the Earth on thefirst day of astronomical summer, the heat retained by the Earth continues toexceed the heat lost until the midpoint of meteorological summer.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski