WINTER IS COMING! Tuesday starts meteorological winter

Goodbye hurricane season, and hello (meteorological) winter

Welcome to Meteorological Winter

ROANOKE, Va. – I know what you’re thinking. “The winter I grew up with doesn’t start until later in the month.” You’re absolutely right, and you’re referring to astronomical winter when the sun’s rays are directly over the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5°S).

Winter solstice - 2020

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Meteorological seasons are broken up so that they start on the first of a month.

Meteorological seasons and how they're broken up

Astronomical seasons start on different dates each year, making record-keeping more difficult. Plus, starting the season this way this shows a definitive trend in temperatures. December through February is our coldest time of the year, whereas late March tends to get a little warmer (no, not all the time).

Average high temperature trend through meteorological winter

As for how much daylight we receive, we’re on a downward trend for the first little bit of meteorological winter. After the winter solstice, however, we slowly start to see daylight increasing!

Daylight hours throughout meteorological winter

For our thoughts on this upcoming winter, be sure to check out this year’s winter outlook from Your Local Weather Authority.


About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.