Summer solstice begins Thursday

Summer officially arrives on Thursday as the summer solstice will begin at 3:50 PM CST.

It’s the longest day of the year, in terms of daylight hours, and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere while it’s the shortest day of the year and winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.

The sun will shine directly over the Tropic of Cancer at 12:00 PM, the most northerly latitude of any day of the year.

There will be 24 hours of daylight at the North Pole and 24 hours of dark at the South Pole.

In Rochester, sunrise was officially at 5:26 PM with sunset taking place at 8:56 PM leading to 15 hours, 29 minutes and 33 seconds of daylight.

Beginning on Friday, the day after the summer solstice, daylight hours will start to decrease until the winter solstice which begins on December 21 at 3:19 AM CDT.