TODAY, Wednesday, December 21st is officially the first day of winter! The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is tracked by the winter solstice, which occurs on December 21st at 4:48 pm.
The winter solstices is one of the two times during the year that the path of the Sun is farthest north or south from Earth’s Equator (the second time being the summer solstice). It is commonly known as the shortest day of the year, meaning it is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight in the year.
While most people do not look forward to the darkest day of the day, some good news is that after tomorrow, starting Thursday, December 22nd, the days will begin to grow longer, with a little more sunlight each day! This will continue to be in affect until we reach the summer solstice, the first day of summer and the longest day of the year, on June 21st, 2023.