Solstice 2026 will arrive at 4:24 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, June 21, giving New Jersey the official start of summer and tying the day for the year's longest stretch of daylight.
The timing matters because people are already thinking about summer plans, and Len Melisurgo, who covers heat waves to snowstorms, said the solstice is approaching this weekend. By the calendar, the season begins on Sunday in the northern hemisphere, even if beach season has already started in New Jersey and warm-weather routines are well underway.
The reason the day runs so long is simple physics. On the summer solstice, the North Pole is tilted at its maximum direction toward the sun, so sunlight reaches the northern hemisphere for the greatest possible span before night returns. That is why the solstice is tied as the longest day of the year in terms of daylight, even though the exact length varies by place.
It varies because latitude changes how long the sun stays above the horizon. On both Saturday and Sunday, the New York City area will have 15 hours, 5 minutes and 37 seconds of daylight, while the Atlantic City area will have 14 hours, 56 minutes and 47 seconds. Farther north, the sun stays out a little longer; farther south, it drops sooner.
The season ahead may feel hotter than the calendar suggests. The Climate Prediction Center is expecting hotter than average temperatures in New Jersey in July, August and September, along with a slight chance of higher-than-normal rainfall. That outlook lands as drought conditions have become severe across most areas of New Jersey and extreme in far southern sections of the state.
Residents and businesses are being urged to conserve as much water as possible to avoid mandatory water-use restrictions, and the latest drought map was released June 18. So while Sunday marks the official start of summer, New Jersey is beginning the season with heat, dry ground and little room for wasted water.
