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Tropic of CancerOne of the things that affects the Cabo San Lucas Mexico weather is the Tropic of Cancer; it is also one of the factors that makes Cabo San Lucas, Mexico a truly special vacation destination. Have you ever traveled near the Tropic of Cancer? The tropic of Cancer runs through Mexico (just North of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico), the Bahamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and Southern China! What is the Tropic of Cancer?We have our ancestors to thank for the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Before all the modern day distractions of the 20th century, people used to look up at the stars and sky frequently—this was their television source! Have you ever noticed that the sun and stars do not appear in the same place and time everyday? If you were one of the millions watching Mars approach the earth in 2003 you probably noticed its obvious change in position every night. Well down here in Mexico, our ancestors noticed that not only do the positions of the stars and sky change but they noticed that from winter until summer, the sun gradually rises higher and higher in the sky each day while the opposite happens from the summer to winter months. By carefully observing how high the sun rose at mid day, they discovered that on June 21rst the sun got as high as it would get during the entire year—this is what we now call summer solstice. They also noticed that the sun stayed lower in the sky than it would during the entire year on December 21rst, you guessed it—this is now commonly known as winter solstice. All hemispheres acknowledge the solstice months as the beginning
and end of summer or winter, however, how high and low the sun
actually gets depends on where you live. To test this out what
you can do is place a stick in the ground sticking straight up.
If the sun is directly overhead, it will cast no shadow. Now here
is where things get interesting—if you are near the equator
the sun will be directly overhead twice a year, if your live along
the Tropic of Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn (Australia, Chile,
and southern Brazil) this happens once a year. Anyone living North
of the Tropical Cancer will never see the sun directly overhead!
This is why the Cabo San Lucas Mexico area is considered the “tropics.” This
area does not experience seasons because the sun is always high
in the sky. The areas to the North of the Tropical Cancer experience
significant variations in climate, that is why our Cabo San Lucas
of Mexico is such a popular vacation destination during the winter
months!
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