As we gear up to ring in a new year, we’re also ringing in the start of a new season with the winter solstice! According to the History Channel, humans have been observing the winter solstice as early as the Neolithic period—the last part of the Stone Age, beginning about 10,200 B.C.–and today, cultures around the world continue to go all out to welcome the season.
Here’s everything you need to know about the winter solstice, including what the forecast looks like!
What is the winter solstice?
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the winter solstice marks the official beginning of astronomical winter. This is different than meteorological winter, which begins about 3 weeks before the solstice.
When is the first day of winter?
Though many think that December 21st is always the first day of winter, that’s not entirely true–in the Northern Hemisphere the winter solstice occurs every year on December 21st or 22nd. This year, the first day of winter is on Saturday, December 21, 2024, at precisely 4:21am.
What happens during the winter solstice?
Judging by the calendar it may seem like the winter solstice is an all-day event, but that’s actually not true. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the solstice actually only lasts a quick moment–specifically, it’s the exact moment the hemisphere (northern, in our case) is tilted as far away from the Sun as possible–hence why this year it occurs at 4:21am!
The winter solstice is the “shortest” day of the year since, being the North Pole is tilted farthest away from the Sun, it has the fewest hours of sunlight. Therefore, it’s also the darkest day of the year and longest night of the year.
The good news: reaching the winter solstice means the days will slowly begin to grow longer and longer again until we reach the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year, so it’ll only get brighter from here!
Is the winter solstice the coldest day of the year?
Though logically it sounds like it would make sense, the winter solstice is not necessarily the coldest day of the year. According to Central Park station data from climate.gov, January 24th is typically the coldest day of the year in NYC on average.
What’s the forecast for this year’s winter solstice?
According to meteorologists over at the Daily News, “winter is set to arrive with a vengeance this weekend with arctic temperatures setting in on Saturday’s solstice.”
AccuWeather writes that the potential for flurries begins tomorrow morning, Friday, December 20th, through Saturday morning, December 21st. National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki told the Daily News, “We’re looking at less than an inch of snow. Maybe half an inch of snow. We’re not breaking out the shovels here.”
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dave Bombek added:
At that moment in time, when winter officially begins, there’s a good chance that there’ll be at least some snowflakes in the air.
And temperatures will only continue to plummet. The “coldest air of the season arrives this weekend,” and NWS is forecasting an arctic airmass to settle over the area Sunday into Monday, with some inland locations not climbing above freezing until Christmas Day.
As for specific temperatures, Ciemnecki stated that “Saturday will reach the low- to mid-30s, but Sunday would see a high in the mid-20s.”
As for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, NWS writes it’s “likely to stay dry with more cloud cover and somewhat moderated temperatures, though still below average.”
In other words, be sure to bundle up when you’re out and about partaking in holiday festivities!