WayneHudsonIII OP t1_j2dfrf1 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 12:50 PM

Reply to comment by keithatcpt in I live in New Hampshire, USA. How come it continues to get colder here after the Winter solstice? by WayneHudsonIII

Interesting. Thanks for your response!

So is the thermal lag time just the amount of time it takes to heat things up? So after the solstice, the energy from the sun is increasing but the temperature trails behind? Then at the Summer Solstice even though the energy from the sun starts to decrease, things still get hotter because that lag is catching up?

keithatcpt t1_j2diuh9 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 1:23 PM

Exactly. The summer solstice is in June, but typically July into August is the hottest part of the year.

darrellbear t1_j2e9nij wrote on December 31, 2022 at 4:52 PM

We have it easy in the northern hemisphere--Earth is closest to the Sun on January 3, farthest from the Sun in July. The southern hemisphere gets the worst of it in both months (hotter summers and colder winters), though it's mediated somewhat by more ocean in the southern part of the planet.