Using this definition, winter lasts 89 or 90 days. 28 or 29, which are usually cold months in much of the country, according to Weather Underground. Meteorologically speaking (looking at the climate), in the U.S. Because Earth has an oval, or elliptical orbit, the seasons aren't the same length winter lasts an average of 89 days in the Northern Hemisphere and an average of 93.6 days in the Southern Hemisphere, according to. So, winter in the Northern Hemisphere lasts from Dec. How long is winter?Īstronomically, or according to the solstices and equinoxes, winter begins on the winter solstice and ends on the spring equinox. 4, 2023, when it will be 91,403,034 miles (147,098,924 km) from the sun, according to Almanac.Įarth will be at its farthest from the sun, or at aphelion, at 4:06 pm EDT on Jwhen it will be 94,506,364 miles (152,093,250 km) away from our star. Earth will be closest to the sun, or at perihelion, at 11:17 am EST on Jan. On average, Earth is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the sun, according to NASA. "In the Northern Hemisphere, winter happens when we're closest to the sun." "Actually, it's the exact opposite," Kirk said. Some parts of the Northern Hemisphere get so cold during the wintertime, you might think that Earth is farther from the sun at this time. Due to this discrepancy, the winter solstice doesn't always occur on the same day. In reality, Earth's orbit around the sun takes 365.25 days, NASA reported. The date varies because the Gregorian calendar has 365 days, with an extra leap day added in February every four years. In the Southern Hemisphere, the winter solstice happens on June 20 or June 21. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Why does the winter solstice date vary?Įach year, the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere falls on one of two days: Dec. In contrast, the noon sun will appear high in the sky on the summer solstice. On the winter solstice, the sun appears low in the sky at noon. The Tropic of Capricorn is the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon, according to the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System, a project based at the University of Hawaii.īecause the sun reaches its zenith at noon at such a southerly latitude, at higher northern latitudes, the sun "just barely comes up over the horizon and goes back down again," Kirk said. But on the northern winter solstice, the noon sun appears directly overhead at a lower latitude: the Tropic of Capricorn, which sits about 23.5 degrees south of the equator and runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil and northern South Africa. On the equinox - the two days of the year when both hemispheres experience the same amount of daylight and nighttime - the sun appears directly overhead, at 90 degrees above the equator at noon. People in this hemisphere might notice that the sun is not that high in the sky, even at noon. On the December winter solstice, there are fewer hours of sunlight the farther north you go in the Northern Hemisphere. (Image credit: Shutterstock) What happens to the sun on the winter solstice? Our planet has four seasons that start and end on the solstices and equinoxes, due to the Earth's tilt relative to the sun.
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