Why does the winter solstice mark the beginning of winter rather than the middle?
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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.
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