The sun sets at Stonehenge during celebrations of the summer solstice, on June 20, 2025, in Wiltshire, England. On the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun rises in perfect alignment with the Heel Stone and Altar Stone of Stone …
The first day of summer arrives this weekend. June 21 marks the first day of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere this year, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
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The first day of the summer solstice will officially begin at 4:24 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 21.
It is also the longest day of the year, according to the Almanac.
What does solstice mean?
The word "solstice" comes from two Latin words: sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) according to the Almanac.
The summer solstice takes place when the Tropic of Cancer is aligned directly with our sun. It's also the longest day of the year.
Around the same time, the Southern Hemisphere is at its most extreme tilt away from the sun, entering the winter solstice and its shortest day of the year.
Autumn and spring are marked by the autumnal equinox and vernal equinox, respectively, according to the National Weather Service’s website.
Meteorological vs astronomical summer
The summer solstice is part of the astronomical seasons, which are based on the Earth’s position relative to the sun.
But meteorological seasons are based on the temperatures that would be expected during each season.
While the summer solstice will begin on June 21 this year, according to the meteorological season, the first day of summer already started on June 1.
Meteorological seasons are divided into three-month periods. Meteorological summer includes June, July and August.
Splitting the seasons into these nearly equal three-month periods makes seasonal recordkeeping much easier since the start and end dates of the seasons are always the same.
Additionally, each meteorological season is always 90 to 92 days, depending on whether it's a leap year or not.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Farmer’s Almanac website and previous reporting by LiveNOW from FOX. This story was reported from San Jose.