Summer Solstice Oddities: On Friday, June 20th at 10:43 p.m. marks the official start of summer! While ancient cultures celebrated solstices with flair (sometimes literally tossing people off pyramids), we now settle for noting the longest day of the year. Expect the sun at its highest, shortest shadows, and sunsets as far north as they get. Upstate New York gets over 15 hours of sunlight and the longest twilight of the year—great for solar fans, not so much for stargazers.