When Is the First Day of Summer? Everything to Know About the 2026 Solstice

Even though it's probably felt like summer for a while now, thanks to rising temperatures across the U.S., the season hasn't officially begun just yet.

Sunday, June 21, marks the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, the solstice occurs at exactly 4:24 a.m. EDT.

The June solstice (also known as the summer solstice) occurs when the sun travels along its northernmost path in the sky and when the Earth's North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) toward the sun, resulting in the longest day (the longest period of daylight) and shortest night of the calendar year, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the astronomical start of winter, and from a meteorological standpoint, summer begins on June 1 and ends on August 31.

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According to the Almanac, solstice comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). Due to Earth's tilted axis, the sun doesn't rise and set at the same locations; its positions move north or southward in the sky as Earth travels around the sun through the year.

Also, the sun's track in the sky becomes higher or lower throughout the year. The June solstice is significant because the sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky at this time.

After the solstice, the sun appears to reverse course and head back in the opposite direction. Of course, the sun itself is not moving. Instead, this change in position in the sky is caused by the tilt of Earth's axis as it orbits the sun, as well as Earth's elliptical (rather than circular) orbit.

Because the date of the solstice depends on when the sun reaches its northernmost point from the celestial equator, it doesn't always occur on the same day. Currently, it shifts between June 20, 21, and 22.

On the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy from the sun due to its angle and length of day, but that stored energy isn't usually felt until later in the year, when the hottest temperatures occur in late July, August, or later.

And although the day of the solstice has the most daylight hours of the year, the earliest sunrises occur before then. The exact timing depends, in part, on your latitude. In the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the sun rises earliest about a week before the June solstice. The latest sunsets of the year occur several days after the solstice, again depending on latitude.