ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Getting up bright and early will be slightly earlier than you may be used to this week. As we approach the summer solstice, these next few days will bring on the earliest sunrises of the year.
On Wednesday, the sun rose at 5:36 a.m. in St. Louis. You may not have noticed, but it's been getting earlier and earlier since March 14, when the sun rose above the St. Louis horizon at 7:13 a.m.
According to TimeandDate.com, the sun will rise at 5:35 a.m. for the next seven days starting on Thursday morning. It's all leading up to June 20, the annual summer solstice and the longest day of the year. After that, the sun will begin to rise a little bit later each day as our amount of daily sunshine begins to decline.
The National Weather Service pointed out the early sunrise on social media, saying it happens because of the Earth's spin, orbit and tilt:
There are two solstices every year, one in the summer and one in the winter, which has the least amount of daily sunlight.
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