The Winter Sosltice

[SteveSS]

Happens on Tuesday, December 21st, 2021. It's the shortest day of the year, therefore our daylight stays longer until June 20th approximately. December 21st also marks the first day of the winter.

The thing that bothered me is why does the temperature continue to fall through January and February if the days are getting longer. Conversely, why does the summer continue to get hotter after June 20th?

Answer: Because the land and air continue to lose heat faster than solar heat arrives, even though the day length is increasing. There is a “lag time” between incoming solar energy and air temperature.

Christmas being on the 25th of December was an effort by Christians to overshadow the pagan Winter Solstice celebrations of the time.

For all of you that listened to Jethro Tull in your youth here is SOLSTICE BELLS.

 

[Bee1971]

Living in WI

It’s much easier to say

It will bee very cold from January 1st Thru February 28th

Thanx

 

[3sloppydogs]

My wife and i live on a long private road that gives access to the county road. we are surrounded by horse farms and grain farms. The private road is situated that on the day of the winter solstice the sun sets exactly at the intersection of the lane and the county road, like the center of a "T". I always say we should go up there and start dancing around a light a fire.
but the funny thing is a thousand years from now some archeologist will come along and say we planned it that way and that's how we knew when we could pray to the heathen gods. they will say we had some crazy ritual when they find dead cow or deer bones
and i still hate winter

 

[SteveSS]

I think I'm going to go on a winter hike for the Solstice. https://www.gardenofgods.com/things...dar/adventure-series/242-winter-solstice-hike

 

[T2R9]

Living in WI

It’s much easier to say

It will bee very cold from January 1st Thru February 28th

Thanx

I sure don't miss those days!

 

[66Satellite47]

Thank you. I've been a Tull fan for nearly 50 years. Don't recall that album, but brings back good memories.

 

[Kern Dog]

I H A T E the winter with the intensity of a thousand bee stings.
I hate the cold, I hate the short daylight hours. I hate extended overcast skies. My own hell would be the following:
Cold, overcast days with nothing to eat but fish, no music to listen to but Rap, no cars to drive but a 1967 Citroen

and no woman to comfort me except for this one:

 

[idrivemopar]

The term for why there is a delay in temperatures from the start of seasons is called Seasonal Lag. Additionally, the seasons are based on astronomical events occurring as our planet revolves around the sun, not meteorological events so the seasons dont necessarily occur during the hottest or coldest times of the year, although they are pretty close. In meteorology, the seasons are 3 month periods, with Winter being December, January, February, Spring is March, April, May, Summer is June, July, August, and Fall is September, October, November. The same kind of lag is also seen on a daily basis, with the warmest part of the day usually occurring after astronomical noon, or the highest sun angle of the day, and the coldest part of the night is usually just before sunrise. This of course varies due to cloud cover, weather patterns, i.e., cold/warm front passages, etc.

 

[SteveSS]

Agree with you you, IDRIVEMOPAR. Here in the thin air at 7500' above sea level. The daytime/nighttime differences are huge. No sun=cold sun=warm or hot. Being in the shade in the mid-day summer sun can drop the temp 30 degrees. Not only do these differences happen between day and night but in cloud cover as well. A cloudy day in the summer can be in the '40s. A sunny day in the winter especially if there is snow on the ground can feel quite warm. Here you can get sun poisoning (severe sunburn) in the winter as well as the summer. snow blindness is a real thing, I don't protect my eyes as well as I should. We have a mile and a half less atmosphere to filter it than most areas. For instance, tomorrow's high is 54 but it will feel warmer. The low will be 25 degrees.

When I was in college at Kansas University a blonde girl (being blonde is important here) and I went skiing at Aspen. The first day she was sunburned so bad her face became extremely swollen, to the point she couldn't open her eyes.

 

[66Satellite47]

Steve, your story brings back great memories. I was a downhill ski racer in the late 60's through about '80. Four trips to Colorado and one to Utah. The sun is amazing with what it does. 1st trip to Denver, got about 2 feet of snow at Vail, 12" in Denver. Next evening all snow was gone in Denver. But the mountains still had plenty. I wore mirrored sun glasses with side shields instead of goggles. Worked well. Sure did get a bit of sunburn on the sunny days up there though.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I think I'm going to go on a winter hike for the Solstice. https://www.gardenofgods.com/things...dar/adventure-series/242-winter-solstice-hike

No you're not...

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