On June 21, the summer solstice occurs, resulting in the longest day of the year for people in the Northern Hemisphere. Tahoetopia.com offers this helpful page to help you track and celebrate the daylight in Lake Tahoe.

June 21, 2010 Day/Night Earth Cron Image
Track the sun's progress today - here.

As shown above, on this day, the earth's "circle of illumination" will be from the Arctic Circle on the top of the earth to the Antarctic Circle on the bottom of the earth. The equator receives twelve hours of daylight, there's 24 hours of daylight at the North Pole and areas north of 66°30' N, and there's 24 hours of darkness at the South Pole and areas south of 66°30' S.

Watch the Sunrise
The image at the right is Tahoetopia's live webcam from Sunnyside Resort on Tahoe's west shore. If you're reading this early Monday morning, you may catch the sunrise, which should occur at around 5:32am.

See this camera streaming live.

Check all Tahoetopia Webcams.

Solstices
What causes the solstices? The answer is the tilt of the earth on its axis of rotation relative to the sun, around which the earth circles. For half the year (March 20-September 22) the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun; the other half of the year, the Southern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun. The tilt of the earth (23 degrees) is the cause of seasons during the year as the earth travels once around the sun.

Equinoxes
What are the "equinoxes" that occur in March and September? They are the two days a year the sun is directly over the equator as the tilt of the earth relative to the sun shifts from north to south, or vice versa.

Sun Starts South - Winter Ahead
While the celebration of the longest day marks the start of summer, truth be told, the sun is now headed south again and the long path to winter has begun. As was overheard at Commons Beach in Tahoe City on Sunday, June 20, "winter's just around the corner!"