Summer is upon us as we welcome the summer solstice – the longest day of the year. With sunset around 8:27pm, we’ll gather nearly 15 hours of daylight. Today’s position and tilt of the Earth in relation to the sun allows maximum sunlight.

Now as we move into the rest of summer, we’ll actually be losing daylight each day. Sunsets will remain pretty late, but the sunrises start later and later.

Even still, the warmest days are yet to move into the region. Climatology shows July and August are the warmest months across Hampton Roads, with average high temperatures near 90°. But climatology also shows us that our summers have been getting warmer and warmer.

Since 1970, the summer months in Norfolk have gained 21 days with above average, that’s almost a month.

“When I first starting working here at WAVY, the average high temperature in the middle of July was 87°,” said Chief Meteorologist Emeritus Don Slater. “Now, that temperature has risen 3°.”

So the trend; warmer summer months.

We’ll notice the humidity move make in with temperatures near 90° tomorrow, so heat index values should be in the low 90s. Highs in the 80s with muggy conditions should then take us into the weekend.

Meteorologist Steve Fundaro