It might have felt like summer, but now it’s officially here

Sweat season is finally here. The summer solstice – the annual moment when the sun is at its highest point in the sky – occurs Thursday at

6:07 a.m. EDT. That marks the beginning of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

In reality, it has been summer for three weeks. Meteorologists consider summer June, July and August – the hottest three months of the year.

Hot weather got a jump-start as the USA sweltered through its warmest May since record-keeping began in the late 1800s. The Climate Prediction Center’s forecast for the next few weeks shows warmer-than-average temperatures for nearly the entire nation.

On average, there’s a one-month lag between the solstice and peak summer temperatures, said climatologist Brian Brettschneider.

The summer solstice is the moment when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer. That’s the farthest north the sun moves in the sky, which is why the days close to the solstice have the most daylight of the year.

People in Anchorage, Alaska, for example, will get 19 hours of daylight, and those in Seattle and New York City will see more than 15 hours. Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta will see more than 14 hours of daylight; Miami and Honolulu will see less than 14 hours.

The amount of daylight will be consistent for a few more days before shrinking each day until the winter solstice in late December.

People worldwide celebrate the summer solstice. In England, hundreds travel to the ancient site Stonehenge to celebrate the first day of summer, as they have for thousands of years.

Also Thursday: It’s the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, meaning it’s going to get colder for the

12 percent of the world’s population that lives there.