If you like shorter daylight hours, your time is almost here.

Although it has felt like summer in South Carolina for some time, the season doesn’t officially begin until Thursday with the astronomical event of the summer solstice.

According to the Farmers Almanac, the summer solstice occurs every year for all residents of the Northern Hemisphere when the Earth is mostly tilted toward the sun. However, the summer solstice does not occur on the same day every year because it is not based on a specific calendar date or time. It depends on when the sun reaches the northernmost point from the equator, which can be between June 20 and 22.

And why is the solstice important in terms of daylight?

This is because the days become shorter after the summer solstice.

Days are getting shorter for SC

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. According to Time and Date, South Carolina will have more than 14 hours and 25 minutes of daylight on Thursday.

Each passing day becomes shorter, meaning there is less sunlight available each day for outdoor activities.

According to the time and date, the days slowly get shorter every day from summer to autumn.

A chart by time and date shows that sunset times decrease by minutes each day. By the end of June, South Carolina will have lost about 3 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice, leaving about 14 hours and 23 minutes remaining. By the end of July, the state will have lost about 35 minutes.

For example, on the autumn equinox on September 22, the first day of fall, sunrise in Columbia, South Carolina will be at 7:12 a.m. while sunset will be at 7:20 p.m., leaving 12 hours and 11 minutes in the day. On the winter solstice on December 21, the day will be about 9 hours and 53 minutes.