You could all sense it coming.
Astronomical winter, or the winter solstice, begins on Thursday in the Northern Hemisphere, even though meteorological winter officially started at the beginning of December.
NASA reports that this year’s winter solstice will fall on December 21 at precisely 9:27 p.m., making it the day with the least amount of daylight.
“In the lead-up to the Winter Solstice, the days become shorter and shorter,” a blog from Space.com reads. “Then on the evening of the solstice, winter begins,” a blog from Space.com said.
These are some things to be aware of as winter’s first day approaches near.
What exactly does the winter solstice represent?
Astronomers say that the solstice not only marks the shortest day—Chicago has just under nine hours and eight minutes of daylight on December 21—but it also signifies the instant in time when the Earth’s axis is tilted the furthest away from the sun.
The summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere is therefore represented by the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Earth’s axis is at its closest point to the sun throughout its yearly revolution on the summer solstice in the Chicago region.
Does that imply that these are the year’s earliest sunset and latest sunrise?
The calendar’s inability to perfectly reflect Earth’s travels through space means that the answer to this question is no.
In fact, this month’s earliest sunset of the year happened in Chicago, shortly after 4:19 p.m. The sun will truly set around 4:20 p.m. on December 15, indicating that sunset is actually beginning to become later one week before to the solstice.
But the days are still becoming shorter since the sunrise is happening later and later. This pattern will hold until early January, when the sunrise is expected to happen at roughly 7:18 a.m.
Will the season mirror in the weather?
According to climate models, the Chicago region could see above-average temperatures on the solstice.
The average high temperature on December 21st, according to the National Weather Service, is 35 degrees, with a record high temperature of 62 degrees recorded on December 21, 1967.
The NBC 5 Storm Team’s most recent predictions for Thursday call for cloudy skies and a high of 47 degrees.