While this summer season won’t quite be endless, itwill be the longest we see until 2037.
Why? It’s just a calendar “quirk,” according to New York City meteorologist John Davitt.
“Quirk of the calendar means earliest Memorial Day and latest Labor Day possible,” he wrote in a post on the social media platform X. “106 days of the summer season. Last [year’s] was 99 days.“
That means more beach days, more ice cream cones and outdoor concerts. It also means an increased risk of ticks, heat-related illness and severe storms.
Much of this weather is already in full swing, with temperatures hitting triple digits in Phoenix, Arizona, back in March and massive downpours fueled by warmer atmospheres dumping flooding rain on the Big Apple.
But how can it be the longest summer season when climatological summer and the summer equinox are in June?”
Climatological summer, which is determined by meteorologists and climatologists, starts on June 1.
Astronomical summer, which is based on the Earth’s position orbiting around the sun, starts on June 21. It is the longest day of the year north of the equator, and is also known as the summer solstice or equinox.
But the summer season usually starts on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day, Davitt says.
“Climatological summer is June, July and August. Summer via the solstice/equinox is late June to late September. Summer season = Memorial Day to Labor [Day and] has been a thing for a long time,” he wrote.
So, what weather should you expect for this extended summer season?
A lot more of the same is on the horizon, according to AccuWeather forecasters, as is a shift to an El Niño climate pattern.
Nearly nowhere will have temperatures that are below average, including the drought-stricken West.
The combination of dry vegetation and scorching heat is expected to raise wildfire risk for the Northwest and Great Basin.
Summer is hotter and longer due to human-caused climate change, the non-profit Climate Central says.
Meanwhile, severe, tornado-forming storms will hit the Midwest early on before the risk shifts east. There is also a risk of derechos with winds over 100 miles per hour in July and August.
Storms this summer could ease some drought in the central U.S. and mid-Atlantic — but they also raise the risk of flash flooding.
That risk could be elevated again in the Texas Hill Country, AccuWeather warned, with threats expected in the Plains Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley.
And, while El Niño has contributed to a less active Atlantic hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says people should still prepare for major hurricanes this year.
“It’s very important to understand that it only takes one,” Dr. Neil Jacobs, NOAA’s administrator, told reporters in a news conference last week. “We have had Category 5s make landfall in the past during below average seasons.”
