Summer Ushered in with Full Moon Monday

By Mike Carraggi (Patch National Staff)

Hello, summer.

That always-too-short season officially starts Monday, June 20th. More specifically, the summer solstice will be Monday at 6:34 p.m.

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What is the sumer solstice? In a broad sense, it's the day with the most sunlight of the year. But 6:34 p.m. is when the sun reaches it's northernmost point of the equator.

In the Hudson Valley, the day is expected to be 15 hours, 7 minutes long, the sun rising at 5:22 a.m. and setting at 8:30 p.m., according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. To put it into perspective, daylight on June 20 will be 5 hours, 50 minutes longer than the day was for the winter solstice. Click here to see how long the day will be where you are.

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Besides ushering in summer, June 20 also will feature a full moon.

And that hasn't happened—summer solstice and a full moon—since 1948.

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, if the solstice sun is high, then the moon will have to be low in the sky.

That means its light will be seen through thicker, usually more humid, air and as a result, the moon will look amber-colored—the Honey Moon.

For the complete article on the solstice moon, including a link a live broadcast beginning at 8 p.m., go to the Old Farmer’s Almanac here.

Patch staff writer Michael Woyton contributed to this article. Photo credit: Michael Woyton.