Winter season officially begins

A winter scene is shown along Mill Street in Pontiac last year (WJEZ file photo).

This is the first day of winter – with the winter solstice occurring.

This solstice occurs when the axial tilt of a planet’s polar hemisphere is farthest away from the star that it orbits.  This is a time with the shortest day and the longest night of the year, when the sun’s daily maximum elevation in the sky is the lowest. Since the solstice lasts for only a moment in time, other terms used for the day include:  midwinter, the longest night or the first day of winter.

Depending on the shift of the calendar, the winter solstice usually occurs anywhere between December 21 and 23 each year in the Northern Hemisphere and June 20 to 23 in the Southern Hemisphere.

We typically see our share of winter weather here in Central Illinois, such as snow and ice although we have been lucky so far this year with no major storms.  But, give it time.  It is only December 21 after all.