(CBS DETROIT) — The Winter solstice arrives this weekend and with it the winter season. The Winter Solstice is our second solstice of the year and marks the shortest day, while the Summer Solstice marks the longest.
This is different from an equinox, of which we have two (vernal spring and fall autumn), where the day is evenly divided between daylight and night.
The solstice is at 4:20 am on Saturday, giving us an almost full winter day to get things going. Sunrise is at 7:58 am, with solar noon not long after at 12:30 pm
Sunset arrives at 5:02 PM, giving us a very short Saturday this weekend.
December 20 and 21 both have a daylight length of 9 hours, 4 minutes and 46 seconds. However, on the 21st there is actually a daylight difference of less than 1 second compared to the 20th.
Despite these numbers, our latest sunrise and earliest sunset do not fall on the winter solstice. Our last sunrise is 8:01 am, which occurs every day from December 30 through January 7.
Our earliest sunset is 4:59 PM, which occurs from December 4 through December 13.
Our earliest sunrise, on the other hand, is at 5:54 am. This happens from June 13 to 16, while the last sunset is at 9:13 PM, from June 25 to 28.
No matter what happens, winter is here, and we already have had A few flavors of snow. As we head into the winter months, it’s a good idea to have those shovels on hand.
Ahmad Bajjey
