Question

Fairbanks, Alaska has almost 22 hours of sunlight on June 21 compared to ~15 hours in Islip, New York. However, the average June 21 temperatures for Fairbanks and Islip are 73˚F and 78˚F, respectively. How is Islip warmer despite receiving shorter duration of solar radiation?

Answer 1

June 21 is called as the summer solstice. On this day, due to earth's tilt, earth faces the sun sharply. Thus sun shines for long hours than on any other day. Though Alaska has almost 22 hours of sunlight, it doesn't mean the temperature rises every hour. To be exact the night temperature at Alaska is around 45 F to 60F while the sun is still up on the sky. So farther we move towards the north, longer the sun shines.

On the contrary in NewYork, the sun shines for 15 hours which makes the climate a bit warmer than natural. Average day length in New York is around 11 hours and on the solstice, daylength is 15 hours, thus the climate is much warmer.