Tuesday marks the winter solstice -- the official first day of winter. It's also the shortest day and longest night of the year.
The winter solstice means that summer is getting closer -- just 182 days away now. From here on out, days will get longer and longer with more hours of daylight.
The solstice officially arrived at 10:59 a.m. EST, according to NASA. The day marks the beginning of astronomical winter, when the sun's path appears the farthest from the Northern Hemisphere.
"At the December solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives the most indirect sunlight, causing cooler temperatures. The Southern Hemisphere receives the most direct sunlight, causing warmer temperatures, so it is summer there," NASA explained. "At the June solstice, this effect reverses and the Northern Hemisphere receives the most direct sunlight, causing warmer temperatures, and the Southern Hemisphere receives the most indirect sunlight, causing cooler temperatures."
According to NASA, all locations north of the equator will see a day length shorter than 12 hours and all locations south see day length longer than 12 hours.
"The December solstice brings the shortest day and longest night of the year for locations in the northern half of the globe, like the U.S., while the southern half of the globe is experiencing its longest day and shortest night," NASA said.
After today, the days will get longer and the nights will get shorter until the summer solstice on June 21, 2022, when things reverse.
While today is the first day of the astronomical winter, the National Weather Service pointed out that the meteorological winter actually started on December 1.
"Meteorologists and climatologists break the seasons down into groupings of three months based on the annual temperature cycle as well as our calendar," the NWS explained. "We generally think of winter as the coldest time of the year and summer as the warmest time of the year, with spring and fall being the transition seasons, and that is what the meteorological seasons are based on."
Meteorological winter covers December, January and February; spring is March, April and May; summer is June, July and August; and fall is September, October and November.
The elliptical shape of Earth's orbit around the sun causes the lengths of the astronomical seasons to vary each year, according to NASA. Astronomical winter starts around December 21-22 with the winter solstice, spring starts around March 20-21 with the March equinox, summer begins around June 20-21 with the summer equinox, and fall starts around September 21-22 with the September equinox.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram