It is summer yet? The answer: yes and no

It feels like summer. It looks like summer. But summer doesn’t officially begin until 6:51 a.m. June 21 — that’s when the summer solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Earth’s wobbling action as it goes around the sun is what causes the seasons, with the amount of daylight varying. The longest day of the year as well as the shortest day occur on the solstice, the point in time when the Earth’s axial tilt has reached its maximum. As we begin “astronomical summer” June 21, people in the Southern Hemisphere will begin their winter.

To make things even more complicated, however, there’s also “meteorological summer,” which begins June 1. Climatologists and meteorologists break the seasons into three-month groupings, so meteorological summer is June, July and August.

“It’s done to keep the seasons— from a forecasting and climatology standpoint — even for three-month intervals,” said Rich Wiirdzek, meteorologist for WHIO-TV. “It’s easier, too, because it’s all based on some of the temperature trends we see with our climate.”

Whether you’re a traditionalist and will wait until June 21 to begin summer or whether you say summer’s already here, one thing’s for certain — it’s nice to forget about things like polar vortexes and bone-chilling winds, and instead focus on pool parties and ice cream.

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