How fast the days will shorten here – NBC Chicago

The 2024 summer solstice is celebrated because it is the longest day of the year, but it also means that the days will get shorter from here.

While the days will be getting shorter, there are some common misunderstandings about what actually happens on the longest day of the year.

The June solstice, also known as the astronomical start of summer, occurs at approximately 3:50 p.m. CT June 20 in Chicago, according to timeanddate.com.

At that time, the Chicago area will have its longest day of the year, with about 15 hours, 13 minutes and 41 seconds of daylight — the longest we’ll see in a single day this year, the site said the

MORE: Chicago’s high humidity, 90-degree temperatures continue for the first day of summer

It’s also the day when the shadows will be the shortest, NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Pete Sack said.

This year, the event will be the earliest in more than 200 years. And, the historic moment will be followed by another big sight in the sky — the strawberry moon.

The shortening of the coming days will be almost imperceptible.

Friday, for example, will be just one second shorter than Thursday, according to timeanddate.com. By June 26, the area will see just over a minute less daylight.

This trend will continue until the winter solstice in December.

But despite the shortening of the days, the summer solstice doesn’t actually mean the area has seen its first sunrise. That actually fell between June 11-17.

Meanwhile, the sun will continue to set at 8:29 PM in the Chicago area through July 2.

Also, the summer solstice does not mark the day when the earth is closest to the sun. In fact, it’s the other way around, according to the National Weather Service.

And finally, it won’t mean the warmest average temperatures that usually occur in mid-July.

So what does the solstice actually mean?

The summer solstice is when the sun reaches its highest and most northerly points in the sky, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, marking the first day of astronomical summer.

It is also known as the day with the longest period of sunlight or the longest day of the year – for those in the Northern Hemisphere.

Although the solstice does not occur at the same time every year, it usually falls anytime between June 20 and 22.

“Our solstices are caused by a slight tilt of Earth’s axis relative to the plane of its orbit,” said a blog from the Adler Planetarium. “This tilt is about 23.5 degrees off vertical. As a result, as the Earth orbits the Sun each year, a different half of the globe tilts slightly toward or away from the Sun.”

According to Accuweather, this year’s solstice will be the earliest in 228 years, with the last time the solstice occurred this early being June 20, 1796.

“The exact day and time of the solstice varies slightly from year to year,” the publication reported.

The Weather Network called the change for 2024 “something exceptional,” noting that the early solstice could also be related to it being a leap year.

“Our calendar still remains slightly out of sync with the solar year. As a result, each leap year the vernal equinox occurs about 40-50 minutes earlier than the vernal equinox of the previous leap year,” the network reported.

Also of note is that the vernal equinox fell on March 19, marking only the second time in more than a century that it fell on that day and making it the earliest vernal equinox in 128 years.

“Even accounting for the fact that there was no daylight saving time back then, the 2024 summer solstice is still earlier,” the Weather Network reported.

And it looks like fall and winter will be similar, with the fall equinox being the earliest since 1797 and the winter solstice being the earliest since 1798.

Going forward, each leap year after 2024 will also have equinoxes and solstices “even earlier,” the Weather Network said.