{"id":5106,"date":"2026-06-20T14:31:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5106"},"modified":"2026-06-20T14:31:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:31:05","slug":"summer-solstice-2026-when-is-it-and-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5106","title":{"rendered":"Summer solstice 2026: When is it and what to know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

The sun sets at Stonehenge during celebrations of the summer solstice, on June 20, 2025, in Wiltshire, England. On the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun rises in perfect alignment with the Heel Stone and Altar Stone of Stone<\/span> <\/p>

Read more Houston weather: Heat advisory continues Friday; heat index in 100s<\/a><\/p>

Expand<\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>

The first day of summer arrives this weekend. \u00a0June 21 marks the first day of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere this year,\u00a0according to the Farmer\u2019s Almanac.\u00a0<\/u><\/p>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

The first day of the summer solstice will officially begin at 4:24 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 21.\u00a0<\/p>

<\/div>

It is also the longest day of the year, according to the Almanac.\u00a0<\/p>

What does solstice mean?\u00a0<\/h2>

The word “solstice” comes from two Latin words: sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) according to the Almanac.\u00a0<\/p>

The summer solstice takes place when the Tropic of Cancer is aligned directly with our sun. It’s also the longest day of the year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Around the same time, the Southern Hemisphere is at its most extreme tilt away from the sun, entering the winter solstice and its shortest day of the year.\u00a0<\/p>

Autumn and spring are marked by the autumnal equinox and vernal equinox, respectively, according to the\u00a0National Weather Service\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/u><\/p>

Read more Heat advisory: Experts warn of \u2018invisible wall\u2019 and a common mistake pet owners make<\/a><\/p>

Meteorological vs astronomical summer\u00a0<\/h2>

The summer solstice is part of the astronomical seasons, which are based on the Earth\u2019s position relative to the sun.\u00a0<\/p>

But meteorological seasons are based on the temperatures that would be expected during each season.\u00a0<\/p>

While the summer solstice will begin on June 21 this year, according to the meteorological season, the first day of summer already started on June 1.\u00a0<\/p>

Meteorological seasons are divided into three-month periods. Meteorological summer includes June, July and August.\u00a0<\/p>

Splitting the seasons into these nearly equal three-month periods makes seasonal recordkeeping much easier since the start and end dates of the seasons are always the same.\u00a0<\/p>

Additionally, each meteorological season is always 90 to 92 days, depending on whether it’s a leap year or not.<\/p>

Read more Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Deputy shot by suspect in Humble, authorities surround suspect\u2019s apartment<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first day of summer arrives this weekend. \u00a0June 21 marks the first day of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere this year,\u00a0according to the Farmer\u2019s Almanac.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s","category-weather"],"yoast_head":"\nSummer solstice 2026: When is it and what to know - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5106\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summer solstice 2026: When is it and what to know - 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