SUMMER! It’s the season of vacations, swimming pools, cookouts, and picnics. And as Nat King Cole immortalized in song, “…those days of soda and pretzels and beer!” For those who live north of latitude 30 or so it is usually a most welcome time of year, coming in the wake of winter’s chill.
When does summer begin? Well, that depends on whom you ask. Ask an astronomer and he’ll tell you it begins on or around June 21 each year, when the sun is centered over the Tropic of Cancer as seen from Earth. It is known as the summer solstice. Solstice means to “stand still,” and during the time around June 21, the sun appears not to move northward or southward in its annual bob up and down the ecliptic. The Tropic of Cancer is at 23.5 degrees north latitude, which is just south of Key West, Florida. So in late June, residents of southern Florida see the sun almost straight overhead at noon.
Although June 21 is the official, astronomical beginning of summer, most meteorologists consider the summer months to be June, July, and August. So the first day of meteorological summer is June 1. And the traditional, non-official start of the summer season for most people in the U.S. is Memorial Day Weekend, the final weekend in May. This is the time when most public swimming pools in the northern and central parts of the U.S. open. It is the time when schools on a traditional calendar begin their summer breaks.
So if you’re fond of summer, explore this site for some insight into summer’s many features. And remember, as another song insisted, it’s “summertime, when the living is easy.”
