Well hello! I hope you make weekly visits here to my blog to read what is jogging around my head. I will be talking about weather and the atmosphere and any big weather related news and events!
Even though our temperatures on this Friday (Dec 19) will feel more like spring, winter is just around the corner.... literally! The official start of winter is called the winter solstice and occurs at 7:04 am this Sunday, December 21, 2008.
The winter solstice is when the sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn at noon… which is located at 23.5 south of the equator. While it is the official beginning of winter for us… on the flip side it is the official beginning of summer in the southern hemisphere. This is primarily because we get less direct sunlight and shorter days and the southern hemisphere gets more direct sunlight and longer days.
The change in season occurs because of the tilt of the earth’s axis of rotation. The earth is tilted at around 23.5 degrees. If the earth’s tilt were 0… there would literally be no change in weather and the seasonal changes we see would be non-existent.
The winter solstice also means the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere.
Have a great weekend… enjoy the unseasonable warmth!
AND Happy Solstice!
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