According to the National Weather Service, the summer solstice, which marks the official beginning of summer, occurs at the moment the earth’s tilt toward the sun is at a maximum. As a result, on the day of the summer solstice, which in 2023 occurs on Wednesday, June 21, the sun appears at its highest elevation with a noontime position. The precise moment the solstice occurs is when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer. This year the sun will reach that point at 10:57 a.m. Though it’s not always sunny on the summer solstice, when the sun is out throughout the solstice people in the Northern Hemisphere can expect more hours of sunlight than any other day of the year. That provides yet another reason to welcome the official arrival of summer.