Summer Solstice 2023: What Cities Will See The Most Daylight?

ACROSS AMERICA — As if summer events aren’t already in full swing, here’s another reason to celebrate the season: The June solstice, regarded as the official start to summer, arrives Wednesday.

The sun travels its longest path through the sky on the day of the summer solstice, which occurs the exact moment Sol reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky, making it the longest day of the year in terms of daylight.

That happens at 10:57 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Wednesday.

The farther north you go, the more daylight hours in the summer. But here’s the thing.

On the evening of the solstice, the sun sets at approximately the same time in two cities that are only a few degrees off in longitude. In the Big Apple, the sun sets at 8:30 p.m. EDT in New York City, but in St. Augustine, Florida, that happens a little earlier, at 8:18 p.m. EDT.

Sunrise times make the difference. In St. Augustine, the sun will peek over the horizon around 6:39 a.m. on the morning of the solstice. By that time, it will have been up for almost an hour at 15 minutes in the Big Apple.

That means New York City gets 15 hours, five minutes and 38 seconds of daylight on the solstice. St. Augustine gets 13 hours, 39 minutes and 38 seconds of daylight.

The simple reason, according to the National Weather Service: “At the equator, the sun is directly overhead at noon on these two equinoxes. The ‘nearly’ equal hours of day and night are due to refraction of sunlight or a bending of the light's rays that causes the sun to appear above the horizon when the actual position of the sun is below the horizon.

“Additionally, the days become a little longer at the higher latitudes (those at a distance from the equator) because it takes the sun longer to rise and set. Therefore, on the equinox and for several days before and after the equinox, the length of day will range from about 12 hours and six and one-half minutes at the equator, to 12 hours and 8 minutes at 30 degrees latitude, to 12 hours and 16 minutes at 60 degrees latitude.”

In Angle Inlet, Minnesota, the northernmost populated in the continental U.S., will see 16 hours, 15 minutes and 37 seconds of daylight on the summer solstice. At Naalehu on Hawaii’s Big Island, the southernmost U.S. city, the day is a little shorter at 13 hours, 16 minutes and 37 seconds.

In Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost U.S. city, the sun doesn’t set at all.

Check your city’s sunrise and sunset times and learn how much daylight you’ll have on the solstice day.

You can read more about the science of the summer solstice on The Old Farmer’s Almanac website.

The summer solstice offers a short window to see electric blue noctilucent clouds, the highest in Earth's atmosphere, which float about 50 miles above our planet's surface near the edge of space, which starts at an altitude of 62 miles.

As you’re filling out your summer calendar, block out a few dates for the summer meteor showers. The Delta Aquariids, Alpha Capricornids and Perseids all start in July.

• Read More: 2023 Guide To Meteor Showers And Other Celestial Events

Also, the July 3 full buck moon is the first of four consecutive supermoons. They’re not that much different from other full moons, but they do appear to be bigger and brighter.

And, who knows, you may get a chance to see the aurora borealis as the sun’s 11-year magnetic cycle goes into overdrive as it approaches what’s known as “solar maximum.” When this happens, the sun’s magnetic fields flip, creating a greater number of sunspots that can set off the ethereal northern lights displays.

• Read More: Aurora Borealis Displays More Likely In Active Solar Storm Season | Aurora Borealis Hunting: What’s A Kp Index, More Northern Lights Tips