While some parts of the U.S. have actually currently experienced bone-chilling temperature levels, the main start of winter does not take place up until Friday– the date of this year’s winter solstice.
The yearly winter solstice brings us the fastest day and longest night of the year in the NorthernHemisphere Those living in the Southern Hemisphere will experience simply the opposite.
The235- degree tilt in Earth’s axis of rotation offers various parts of the world more direct exposure to the Sun at various times of the year, offering seasons. In December, the Earth’s North Pole turns away from the Sun, providing the Southern Hemisphere the most sunshine.
“Culturally, the solstices and equinoxes are typically used to denote either the beginnings of the seasons or the center points of the seasons,”Rick Kline of the Spacecraft Planetary Imaging Facility at Cornell University just recently informed U.S.A. TODAY.
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The date and time of the solstice differ each year, though it normally falls in betweenDec 20 andDec 23, according to The Weather Channel.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s occasion.
When is the winter solstice, precisely?
This year’s solstice will take place at roughly 5: 23 ET (3: 23 MST), according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
TheSun will appear at its least expensive elevation around midday.
The day will include simply 9 hours, 53 minutes and 21 seconds of daytime — compared to our normal 12 hours or two, the NWS states.
Will it be the coldest day of the year?
Not always. In reality, the coldest temperature levels generally do not strike up until days after the solstice.
“There is actually a lag between the shortest day of the year and the coldest average temperatures, not only across New Mexico but for most of the mid and high latitude locations,” the NWS mentions.
The angle of the Sun stays low for a time period after thesolstice The temperature levels apparently continue to drop throughout that time up until the Sun begins to increase greater in the sky.
“This lag in temperature occurs because even though the minutes of daylight are increasing, the earth’s surface continues to lose more energy than it receives from the sun,” the NWS reports.
WHAT IS A POLAR VORTEX? A Take A Look At WHAT COULD BE IN THE PROJECTION THIS WINTER
But some locations will see freezing temperature levels in the coming weeks — and the solstice isn’t always exclusively to blame.
A polar vortex might sweep through the East Coast later on this month and cause among the harshest winter seasons in years, environment scientists informed TheWashington Post.
A polar vortex refers to the cold air and low pressure that continuously surrounds both of the Earth’s poles. In the winter, a disturbance in the polar vortex can take place as it tends to broaden in the northern hemisphere, pressing that cold air even more south, according to the NWS.
What else is taking place?
December’s full moon is referred to as the ColdMoon ( REUTERS/HenryRomero)
A full Moon and a meteor shower will accompany this year’s winter solstice.
TheMoon, referred to as the Cold Moon, shows up onDec 22 — a day after the wintersolstice It will be at its maximum at 12: 49 p.m. ET, NASA states.
Accordingto NASA, a full moon hasn’t accompanied the winter solstice considering that 2010 and it’s not anticipated to sign up with the solstice once again up until 2094.
The yearly Ursid meteor shower is likewise anticipated to peak onDec 21 andDec 22. It’s the very first time this specific meteor shower has actually overlapped with the Cold Moon in 8 years, Fortune reports.
TheUrsid meteor shower isn’t almost as remarkable as the Geminid meteor shower, which peaked recently.
TheGeminid shower, which includes particles from 3200 Phaethon, can shoot anywhere in between 60 to 120 meteors per hour. The Ursid shower, nevertheless, sprays the night sky with far less — around 5 to 10 per hour, though an “outburst” might trigger that number to double, Space com states.
Butyou might have a difficult time seeing the fireballs, as the intense full moon might obstruct your view.
FoxNews’ Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.
