Cheery News For Today

Oh, Joy. It's official: Winter Is Here. Yipee.

"Although you may have been welcomed into winter more than three weeks ago, today is the astronomical beginning of the season at 1:35 p.m.The word solstice, for those of you who may not have heard this before, literally means “still sun.” The sun takes its lowest apparent path across the sky and appears to “stand still” in that position for the next few days. On this day, the sun’s rays directly shine over the Tropic of Capricorn, 23½ degrees south latitude, marking the southern hemisphere’s first day of summer. Those direct rays are at their farthest point from our latitude today. Still, the coldest time is yet to come as the lag of the atmosphere gets going. You will notice the sunset time creeping later and later by a minute or two over the next two weeks. By the end of January, the lengthening daylight minutes really begin to be noticed. " Just 89 Days Until Spring!