Why the hottest weather isn't on the longest day
Discuss Print Me Email to FriendTonight is Sunday, Jul 05 2009
People often ask why the hottest weather of the year comes after the year’s longest day, on the solstice.
Although the June solstice does indeed have the most moments of daylight for us in the northern hemisphere, it does not – in most places – have the hottest weather. Why? The reason is that Earth’s land and oceans take some time each year to heat up after the cold winter months.
That’s why the hottest weather of the year lags for weeks or even months behind the longest day. It’s the same reason that it’s generally hotter in mid-afternoon – say around 3 p.m. – than at noon.
With respect to the passage of the months of the year, this phenomenon is extremely well known. It even has a name. It’s called the lag of the seasons.
