Declination of the sun over Roatan

In our recent discussions about temperature on Roatan, I noted that May and September seem to be the hottest months of the year, which I attributed to lack of clouds and, especially in September, calm winds. But Roger Quigg of Jolly Roger Roatan pointed out the role of declination, that is the angle of the sun overhead. North of the tropics we know that the most direct rays come around June 20. That is when the sun shoots direct rays at the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 27 minutes north. But here in Roatan we are south of the Tropic of Cancer at 16 degrees 23 minutes north. If you check this chart, it shows that we have the sun directly overhead on May 6 and August 8. Of course, there’s more to how hot it is than whether you are getting direct sun rays, but I think we can all agree that when you step off the plane, you know you’re in the tropics because the sun is simply more intense. That has a lot to do with getting direct sun rays.