Why does the winter solstice mark the beginning of winter rather than the middle?
In: 1
“Winter” is just term we humans invented.. Celtic/pagans were able to determine the date and celebrated it..
Why is it colder only after it?
Earth is massive and it takes a while to cool down the surface.. so seasons “lag behind” solar cycle
The seasons are subjective cultural constructs – winter doesn’t have an objective start or end, it’s just a name that we call the part of the year when it’s cold. What day belongs to which season is a matter of cultural perspective, not objective science.
But it would make intuitive sense if the coldest part of the year was also around the shortest day, instead of after it. Except, there is a ‘lag time’ – the shortening of the days in winter causes the atmosphere and earth’s surface to get colder on that side of the earth, but it takes a while to cool down. So the coldest part of the year is typically after the winter solstice, just as the hottest part of the year is typically after the summer solstice.
That’s astronomical winter.
Meteorological winter starts on December the 1st, about three weeks before the solstice.
The traditional Scottish Gaelic winter begins quite considerably earlier on the 1st of November and ends on St. Bridget’s Day, so Solstice does, in this case, fall roughly in the middle.
We have different times to start the seasons. The astronomical method relies on the solstices and the equinoxes as the start of each season. Regardless of the location or culture those will be the same.
However the meteorological seasons start on the first of the months – March, June, September, December
Latest Answers