Celebrating the summer solstice and watching for rain

Solstice comes from the Latin “sol” for “sun” and “sistere” for “to stand still.” Although the gap between sunrise and sunset is at its peak today, the amount of daylight for several weeks before the solstice and several weeks after is basically the same. Perhaps it is for this reason that early astronomers felt it appeared as if the sun is standing still on the solstices.

The solstice is a opportunity for me to remind folks that today is neither the earliest sunrise of the year, which occurred back on June 14, nor is it the latest sunset, which won’t occur until late next week. This is only the biggest gap between the two. We’ve actually lost a few seconds of daylight in the morning already.

There hasn’t been much in the way of heat or humidity so far this season locally. Persistent dips in the jet stream have brought more clouds than usual as well as cooler temperatures. Over the next week temperatures will be warmer along with more humidity but that ever-present chance of showers especially in the afternoon.

Some of those could have some downpours and for the weekend and into next week, downloading a good radar app like RadarScope won’t be a bad idea if you’re going to be outside for any amount of time. The big weather variable that you will notice starting Friday is the humidity. It is going to climb high enough many will consider it uncomfortable and air conditioning will be needed.

While beach weather has been at a premium so far around here globally temperatures continue to run above average. Both global air temperature and ocean temperatures are notably warm. I mention this as a reminder that even if we end up with a summer without a lot of heat this year, our local climate continues to warm and over time most summers are going to be warmer than average.