Winter solstice 2022: What is it and what does it mean for North Carolina?
Wednesday marks the shortest day of the year. During the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun and the sun's position is at its most southerly point, directly over the Tropic of Capricorn.
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Here's what you need to know about the 2022 winter solstice.
What happens during the winter solstice?
Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year because during the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun and the sun's position is at its most southerly point, directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil and northern South Africa.
“I think that it would make sense to people that the shortest day of the year would be the coldest day of the year, and that from here, we’re going to start to see longer days and shorter nights, and that we would warm up pretty quickly – but that’s not how it happens, ” WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said.
Gardner compared the winter solstice to boiling water on a stove top.
“[When] you’re trying to boil some water, it doesn’t heat up instantly. It takes some time, and the atmosphere takes some time to cool down and to warm up,” Gardner said.
The record high for the start of the astronomical winter was 74 degrees in 2013, and the record low was 8 degrees in 1963.
When is the winter solstice in 2022?
The solstices and equinoxes can happen on the 20th, 21st or 22nd of the month depending on the calendar year.
At 4:48 p.m. ET Wednesday, it marks the first day of astronomical winter – although meteorological winter began Dec. 1.
On Wednesday, Raleigh will have daylight from 7:20 a.m. to 5:04 p.m., or for nine hours, 43 minutes and 57 seconds.
“Once we get to the day after the solstice, our days begin to get longer, but it’s subtle,” Gardner said.
During the summer solstice on June 21, 2023, Raleigh will have sunlight from 5:58 a.m. to 8:33 p.m, or for 14 hours, 35 minutes and nine seconds.
“We all know that we don’t automatically start getting cooler at the end of June,” Gardner said in reference to her stove-top analogy.
Wednesday’s solstice is the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the December solstice marks the longest day of the year. It is the start of the astronomical summer for places like Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa.
White Christmas unlikely for central NC
A White Christmas is looking unlikely this year for central North Carolina.
The National Weather Service tracked when the Triangle has had a White Christmas in the last 70 years.
- 2010: No snow on ground, but new snow
- 1966: 1-3 inches of snow depth
The rest of the 68 years had no snow on the ground or no new snow.
“Statistically, we have a 2% chance of a White Christmas in the Triangle area,” Gardner said.
Temperatures will begin in the 50s on Friday morning but get colder throughout the day, dropping into the 20s by Friday afternoon.
The wind chill, possibly in the single digits, will make Friday afternoon feel even colder. It will be so cold that it will be a good day to stay indoors.
There could be a few flurries Thursday into Friday, but it will quickly switch to rain, WRAL meteorologists said.
Christmas Eve will have a high temperature of 31 degrees and a low of 15 degrees.
Christmas Day will have a high temp of 34 degrees and a low of 18 degrees.
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