Wheel of the Year blog: Solstice & Beyond

Submitted by Linda Dobbins

The Summer Solstice of 2023 arrived on Wed., June 21 at 10:57 am in the Northern Hemisphere holding
16 hours of daylight in the skies of the US and UK. It is the longest day of the year north of the Equator,
but not the hottest as it takes the land masses & oceans more time to warm, so this period is called the
lag of the seasons. It is the only day of the year when all locations inside the Arctic Circle has 24 hours of
light and the Antarctic Circle has 24 hours of night. The Tropic of Cancer is the most northern point on
Earth where the sun stops moving, then starts its journey south. This gives meaning to the term
“solstice”, to stand still. Summer lasts 93 days and ends on Sept. 23, 2023 when the Fall Equinox arrives.
Days continue to shorten until the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21, 2023.