Wednesday Marks the Summer Solstice, The Longest Day of the Year

Though with cooler weather of late it might not feel like it, today marks the summer solstice: the official beginning of summer and the longest day of the year. 

Wednesday June 20, 2012 at 4:08 p.m. PST will mark this year's summer solstice, the exact time when the sun is the farthest north in the sky and directly above the Tropic of Cancer, according to the Huffington Post.

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the word "solstice" is derived from the Latin word "solstitium." "Sol" means "sun," while "stitium" means "to stop," as the sun appears to stop its seasonal progression across the sky before it begins to recede southward in the ensuing months.

Sunrise this morning in Southern California was marked at 5:41 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:07 p.m for a total of just over 14 and a half hours of sunlight.