DELMARVA - Today, June 21, marks the astronomical start of summer, which officially began at 10:58 a.m. this morning on Delmarva. At that moment, the center of the sun was directly above the Tropic of Cancer, appearing at its northernmost or highest point in the sky.
As the sun reaches its highest point, it takes longer to rise and set, resulting in the longest day of the year with 14 hours and 52 minutes of daylight.
From now on, the amount of daylight will gradually decrease until the winter solstice on December 21.
Today, sunrise occurred at 5:37 a.m. By the first day of fall, the length of the day will be just twelve hours long, and on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, it will be 9 hours and 27 minutes.
Average temperatures will gradually increase through the month of August as the northern hemisphere receives more direct sunlight. Daylength will become shorter by about two minutes each day starting in August.