The Longest Night: A Short Guide to the Winter Solstice
For many people in the United States, winter came a little early, as a few waves of snow and bitterly cold temperatures colored the landscape white. It’s not officially winter yet, and it won’t be until December 21, the date of the winter solstice. So get ready because Earth’s shortest day is coming.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice has several different meanings, so here are all of them. The most common definition, and the one you are probably familiar with, is that it refers to the shortest day and longest night of the year on Earth. These times vary depending on your location on the globe, but the further north you live, the less sunlight you will receive. In the tropics, they will benefit from around 12 hours of sunlight. In Sweden it will be closer to six hours. In Svalbard there are none.
The reason this happens is due to the second definition of the winter solstice: during this time, the North Pole is tilted as far away from the sun as possible. According to The Farmer’s Almanac, the time when the Earth’s axis is physically tilted as much as it can be is 10:03 a.m. ET on December 21. After this point, the process will begin to reverse until the South Pole takes its turn. during the summer solstice. At this point, the North Pole will be at its closest tilt to the sun, giving us the longest day and shortest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere.
Sunset will occur no earlier than December 21.
How much sun will we get?
This will vary by location. The southern United States will have the most sunshine, with Florida getting just over 10 hours during the winter solstice. The Midwest and Great Lakes portion of the country will get about nine hours. The Pacific Northwest can expect just under nine hours. Southern Alaska will have about six hours and areas of northern Alaska will have about three hours.
If you want to see how your area will fare, Time and Date has a sunrise and sunset tool you can use. Enter your zip code into the search bar and you can see your sunrise and sunset times.
The town of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, will have a worse situation than most American towns: it will have no sun at all. The sun won’t rise there until January 22. We hope the people who live there have packed their bags. vitamin D supplements.
The difference between a solstice and an equinox
The autumnal equinox was just a few months agoso you might be curious about the differences. A solstice occurs when the Earth’s poles tilt as far from the sun as they will in a year, which also corresponds to one orbit around the sun. The equinoxes occur halfway between each solstice. The autumnal equinox occurs in September between the summer and winter solstices, while the spring equinox takes place in March between winter and summer.
During an equinox, the poles are slightly tilted and the days are as uniform as they can be. This also has a few other interesting side effects: the sun is pointed directly toward the equator during an equinox, and the sun will rise and set directly in the east and west, respectively.
Humans use the solstices and equinoxes to mark the changing of the seasons. There are two equinoxes and two solstices, which mark the start and end dates of the four seasons on Earth.
Decorating with evergreen trees, like with a wreath, is what they did to celebrate the winter solstice.
Celebrate the winter solstice
Although the solstice is close to the holiday, winter solstice celebrations have been around much longer, and some winter solstice traditions have also become Christmas traditions. One of the most historically famous winter solstice celebrations is Yule, a winter festival that originated thousands of years ago among the ancient Norwegians. It became commonly celebrated in Europe and involved bonfires and massive parties. Christmas celebrations also included decorating with evergreen tree decorations, such as holly and ivy.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Christmas took over many of these traditions centuries ago, and the two traditions have somehow merged into one seasonal holiday. The terms Christmas and Xmas are often used interchangeably today in many cultures.
So if you want to celebrate the winter solstice, just do everything you normally would for the holiday. Burn a Yule log, decorate a tree, eat a big feast with your family, and hang mistletoe and wreaths: these are all tips for traditional winter solstice celebrations.
