You've noticed it already. You probably have mentioned it to at least one other person and just the thought has brought a smile to your face. What is it? It's staying lighter later. No earthshaking revelation here but this trend will continue into the third week of June.

We were in the dark the longest at the end of December when we received about 9 and a half hours of daylight. Now we are receiving about 11 hours of daylight and gaining at a rate of 2 minutes a day. By the end of June we will bask in nearly 15 hours of daylight. Of course with all this additional sunshine, it does mean that we are increasing our daily temperatures. We are about 4 degrees warmer now then we were just a month ago.

Have you ever thought about the fact that our warmest weather in summer does not come on the day with the longest period of daylight? And conversely the coldest weather in winter does not fall on the day with the least number of daylight hours? Think about it, July is our hottest month but June 21st is our "longest" day. The same in winter, January is the coldest month but December 21st is out "shortest" day. What's with that?

The answer is....because of the oceans. With the Earth's surface covered mostly by water, water temperatures plays a big role in the Earth's temperature. It takes some time for all that water to warm up or cool down. In fact, there is about a month difference between the shortest day and coldest ocean water temperature and between the longest day and the warmest ocean water temperature. That's why January is the coldest month and July is the warmest. Is that cool with you?