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Though the meteorological winter began last week with the start of December, the Northern Hemisphere remains in astronomical autumn for a bit longer.
Astronomical seasons are determined by the Earth’s position in its orbit around the sun, with the winter solstice marking the astronomical beginning of winter.
So when is the winter solstice? When is the shortest day of the year? When will we start seeing more daylight? Here’s everything to know about the changing seasons.
When is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs when the North Pole is at its maximum tilt away from the sun, giving the hemisphere its fewest hours of sunlight in a given day and coinciding with some of the coldest weather that the hemisphere will experience.
This year, the winter solstice will officially occur at 3:21 a.m. Central Standard Time on Saturday, Dec. 21, according to the National Weather Service.
When is the shortest day of the year?
According to TimeandDate.com, the earliest sunsets of the year in Chicago will actually begin occurring on Monday, with the sun dipping below the horizon at approximately 4:19 p.m.
That trend will continue for nearly two weeks, with sunset moving to 4:20 p.m. on Dec. 14, according to the website.
Despite the sunset time remaining roughly unchanged, the sunrise time will continue sliding later in the morning, reducing the amount of daylight the area receives by roughly one minute per day.
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As we hit the middle of the month, the reduction in daylight will grow smaller and smaller until Dec. 21, when the shortest day of the year will occur in the Northern Hemisphere.
In Chicago, we will see approximately nine hours, seven minutes and 44 seconds of daylight on that date.
When will days start getting longer?
The day after the winter solstice, Chicago will slowly begin gaining daylight, but it’s going to be hard to notice at first. In fact, according to TimeandDate.com, the city will have gained just under four minutes of daylight in the final 10 days of the year, with sunset occurring just before 4:30 p.m.
Around New Year’s Day, Chicago will still be gaining daylight each day, but sunrise will be occurring at its latest point of the year, with the sun coming up around 7:18 a.m. each day.
By the end of January, Chicago will be gaining two minutes of daylight per day, and sunset will be occurring after 5 p.m. for the first time since daylight saving time ended on Nov. 3.
Jan. 30 will also be the date that Chicago eclipses 10 hours of daylight, with bigger and bigger gains coming as the winter continues.
Meteorological winter kicks off to a warm start with temps in the 70s
As we push into December a large ridge of high pressure is helping fuel a warm-up that is leaving temps nearly 10 degrees above normal for this time of year.
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By: Vivian Rennie
Posted 7:25 PM, Dec 02, 2024
and last updated 1:02 AM, Dec 03, 2024
Good morning Central Coast!
Sunday not only kicked off the start of December but also the start of Meteorological Winter. Unlike the common (astronomical) system in meteorology, we mark the seasons by the months with the coldest average temperature. Now that we are in winter it is even more rare to see the warm temps that are our story for this week.
We are kicking off the day with beautiful clear conditions and calm winds. Check out this festive look at Pismo Beach!
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Temperatures will climb into the 70s for most locations, enjoy the sunshine and much warmer than normal temps. For a little context the “normal” high temp in Paso Robles for December 2nd is just 62 degrees.
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There is some cloud cover headed our way though, a small low-pressure system just off our shores will push some high-level cloud cover onshore through the day today.
Those clouds will be in place for about 48 hours and will clear by midweek. Temps will stay comfortable in the 70s through the whole week.
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Even into the farther extended forecast the Climate Prediction Center is expecting temps to stay warmer than normal with dry conditions into mid December.
Have a wonderful day and a great week ahead!