Summer Solctise?

Question

Why is it often warmer in August than it is during the Summer solctise, since after all, the sun is directly over head???

Answer 1

It is a heat lag... which creates warmer temps a few weeks after maximum radiation.  It depends on your location with regards to latitude, coastal influences, etc..  

For example, some maximum temps in the U.S. occur in July, where in San Francisco it occurs in September because the water temperature is warmest.  

This same philosophy applies to oceans as well. They are not warmest until a couple of months after maximum radiation.  It has to do with heat transfer and the specific heat of an object or its ability to absorb radiation.  

Maybe somebody can give you a better explanation of the scientific occurence.

Answer 2

It's for the same reason the warmest part of the day is not at noon, but in the mid to late part of the afternoon.  There is a lag caused by the delayed response of the surface to absorbed solar energy.  As solar energy impacts a surface, some of it is absorbed by that surface.  Once absorbed, the overall energy of that surface increases.  In order to try to restore balance, the surface increases it's emission of longwave radiation, or heat.   This is not an instantaneous effect.  It takes a little time for the amount of emitted energy to "catch up" to the amount of absorbed energy in order to restore balance.