Solar winter has arrived. What it means, and why it can be depressing.

This week marks the beginning of the darkest quarter of the year with the least amount of daylight

By Dan Stillman
November 11, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST

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Temperatures will inevitably cool off as the days continue to get shorter until the winter solstice Dec. 21. While that date is considered the start of astronomical winter, solar winter is already here. Solar winter is the first of three winters that arrive every year between early November and late December:

Solar winter is the three-month period with the days containing the shortest number of daylight hours. The exact dates can vary slightly from year to year, but solar winter typically runs from early November through early February.

Meteorological winter runs from Dec. 1 through February, aligning with what is typically the coldest three-month period of the year. Meteorologists break the seasons into three-month blocks that follow the annual temperature cycle and allow for easier record-keeping.

Astronomical winter is the three-month period starting with the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and ending with the spring equinox, when the length of day and night are approximately equal. The calendar dates of the astronomical seasons can shift slightly from year to year because they are based on where the Earth is in its rotation around the sun.

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By Dan Stillman
Dan Stillman is a meteorologist and editor for the Capital Weather Gang. He earned an M.S. in Meteorology from Texas A&M University, and a B.S. in Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences from the University of Michigan. Twitter https://twitter.com/stillmand