Winter Season: Nature, Flora and Fauna, Earth

In the “astronomical” reckoning, the timing of “winter” is based on astronomical fixed points (i.e., based solely on the position of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun), regardless of weather conditions. In the Julian calendar used in the ancient Roman world, winter began on 10 November, its midpoint was the winter solstice on 25 December, and winter ended on 6 February. Winter is often defined by meteorologists to be the three calendar months with the lowest average temperatures. Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather.

• The Sun’s path across the sky appears to freeze for a few days before and after the solstice.
• Expect milder months in the Upper Midwest to transition to colder-than-normal temperatures as winter continues.
• Everyone feels some magic in the air, because of frosts, crystal nights, snow and just this amazing atmosphere.
• (The Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice occurs in June.)
• Seasonal lag means that the coldest period normally follows the solstice by a few weeks.
• Other annual plants require winter cold to complete their life cycle; this is known as vernalization.

The season change dates are based on the spring and fall equinoxes as well as the summer and winter solstices. Each season lasts approximately 3 months and corresponds to a period of the year which has a relative constancy in terms of temperature and climate. The polar vortex isn’t a storm—it’s a large swirling pool of very cold Arctic air that usually stays near the North Pole in winter. If the polar vortex shifts south, it could send colder-than-average air from Canada farther into the United States.
In one astronomical reckoning, the winter solstice is the middle of winter; being the day of the year that has fewest hours of daylight. Since by almost all definitions valid for the Northern Hemisphere, winter spans 31 December and 1 January, meaning that the season takes up two calendar years, as summer does in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, depending on the year, this corresponds to the period between 20, 21 or 22 December and 19, 20 or 21 March.

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. Is it also the coldest?

Most of plants and animals are having their hibernation period, so winter is not full of bright colors, but who says that white, snowy and a bit magical winter is not cool? Nature in the winter season is sleeping, because of low temperatures, frost in the air and snowing weather. Ecological reckoning of winter differs from calendar-based by avoiding the use of fixed dates.
Thankfully, after we reach the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and longer again until we reach the summer solstice—the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. (The Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice occurs in June.) For the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs every year between December 20 and 23, most often on December 20 or 21. If the astronomical or calendrical seasons begin with the equinoxes (spring and autumn) and solstices (summer and winter), in meteorology, they begin earlier and correspond to periods of three full months.

Winter Solstice

The winter solstice is significant across cultures, signaling the changing of the seasons. Specifically, it’s the exact moment when a hemisphere is tilted as far away from the Sun as possible. When one hemisphere is experiencing its winter solstice, the other is simultaneously experiencing its summer solstice!

• Expect a mild winter in the Desert Southwest, with warmer and drier conditions, including in areas that usually receive snow.
• The day after the winter solstice, the Sun’s path begins to advance northward again, eventually reaching its most northerly point on the day of the summer solstice.
• If the astronomical or calendrical seasons begin with the equinoxes (spring and autumn) and solstices (summer and winter), in meteorology, they begin earlier and correspond to periods of three full months.
• While it won’t be as cold as usual, it’s still winter!
• The day of the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, which means that it’s the day in which we experience the least amount of daylight.
• But coming of the winter season does not mean that we will not enjoy the beauty of the nature.

Is the Winter Solstice really the start of winter?

This corresponds to the months of December, January and February in the Northern Hemisphere, and June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere. In comparison, Vancouver, a city on Canada’s west coast with a marine influence from moderating Pacific winds, has a January low of 1.4 °C (34.5 °F), with days well above freezing, at 6.9 °C (44.4 °F). From the perspective of an observer on the Earth, the winter Sun has a lower maximum altitude in the sky than the summer Sun. Conversely, winter in the Southern Hemisphere occurs when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted more toward the Sun. The day on which this occurs has the shortest day and the longest night, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice.
Everyone feels some magic in the air, because of frosts, crystal nights, snow and just this amazing atmosphere. Hades tricked Persephone into eating the food of the dead, so Zeus decreed that she spend six months with Demeter and six months with Hades. The process by which plants become acclimated to cold weather is called hardening. Few plants bloom in the winter, one exception being the flowering plum, which flowers in time for Chinese New Year. Larger plants, particularly deciduous trees, usually let their upper part go dormant, but their roots are still protected by the snow layer.

In Chinese astronomy and other East Asian calendars, winter is taken to commence on or around 7 November, on Lìdōng, and end with the arrival of spring on winwinter casino 3 or 4 February, on Lìchūn. In Celtic nations, winter began on 1 November and the time around the winter solstice was seen as the middle of winter. Likewise, in Christian Anglo-Saxon calendars, winter began on 7 November, its midpoint was the solstice or Midwinter on 25 December, and winter ended on 6 February. In this region, snow occurs every year in elevated regions such as the Andes, the Great Dividing Range in Australia, the mountains of New Zealand, and in the southerly Patagonia region of South Argentina. The Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI) defines thermal winter as when the daily mean temperatures are below 0 °C (32 °F) for five consecutive days.
Spend some time enjoying the crisp air. Of course as late Winter goes on, I do start to wish for the warmth of Spring, which I love because of all of the new growth in the garden. I was born on December 22nd, and I remember looking at the calendar to see if it landed on the solstice. The idea that winter in some way starts at the solstice makes no sense at all. We wish our entire Almanac community a beautiful, cozy, magical, and safe winter season!