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If June 21 is the day with the most sun light and June is the month with the most sunlight then why isn't June the hottest month of the year, July or August is generally the hottest months out of the year? Please let me know, this question has been bugging me for a while.
Sincerely, Kurtis L.
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This is a great question and has to do with the tilt of the earth and our orbit around the sun. If the length of the day was the solitary factor in determining heat then it will heat up like crazy after December 21st and peak in June on the summer solstice. It would also be hottest on that day in lots of communities in the US. But the length of the day is not the only factor in what makes us warm in the summer time.
We have seasons because of the tilt of the earth on its axis and because the earth moves around the sun. This elliptical orbit around the sun and the tilt give us four seasons. During the summer, we are tilted toward the sun, we have our summer in the northern hemisphere. During the winter, we are tilted away from the sun, the north pole stays mostly dark and we have winter.
Because we are pointed toward the sun in the summer, this is our warmest month. We heat more with longer days (but again, the longest day of the year is not the warmest one). Also with this tilt, we receive more direct rays from the sun, or more direct light. This means we can heat more efficiently. The amount of heat coming into the atmosphere exceeds the amount being released. This means the hottest month lags the the day with the longest light. We have our hottest months in July and August. Weather starts to get cooler when more heat is going out than coming in.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
