(6/21/2019) - Summer officially arrived at 11:54 a.m. Friday, when the sun reached its highest point in the sky -- called the summer solstice.
Friday also is the longest day of the year with 15 hours, 21 minutes and 49 seconds of daylight. Mid-Michigan will lose two seconds of daylight Saturday as the days start getting shorter.
The weather hasn't been very summer-like coming into the season. Here are some statistics to prove what many people have been feeling about the weather.
IT'S COOLER
So far in 2019, Flint has reached 80 degrees on seven days and Saginaw has reached that mark on just two days.
By this time last year, Flint had seen 20 days at 80 degrees or above while Saginaw reached at least 80 on 23 days.
The reason for the cooler weather is a jet stream staying south, allowing cooler Canadian air to overspread Mid-Michigan. The Polar Vortex last winter also increased the ice cover on the Great Lakes, which took longer to melt and caused water temperatures to stay low longer.
Normal high temperatures for this time of year are in the low 80s with average lows in the upper 50s.
IT'S RAINED A LOT
Look at any lake, pond, stream or river and it's clear water levels are high. All five Great Lakes reached their highest recorded water levels for the month of June on Friday.
Flint has received nearly 18.5 inches of rain so far this year, which is 5 inches more than normal but only 3 inches higher than what we received up to this point last year.
Saginaw is surprisingly slightly below normal for rainfall this year with 12.95 inches. The normal amount of rainfall by the summer solstice is 13.63 inches.