Dear Tom,
My daughter and I just returned from Frankfurt, Germany, where it was light from before 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Why?
Carolyn Bertagnoli, Chicago
Dear Carolyn,
Many people are unaware that Frankfurt sits near latitude 50(degrees) N, about the same as Winnipeg, Canada, and well north of Chicago’s latitude of 42(degrees) N. This time of year, as we approach the Northern Hemisphere’s period of maximum daylight, the farther north you travel, the more daylight you get. For example, on May 20, Frankfurt received about an hour more daylight (15 hours and 43 minutes) than Chicago (14 hours and 42 minutes). On the summer solstice, Frankfort will enjoy nearly 16.5 hours of daylight as compared to Chicago’s 15 hours and 14 minutes. However, the situation reverses on the winter solstice with Chicago’s 9 hours and 8 minutes of light topping Frankfurt’s 7 hours and 58 minutes.
———-
Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
