Winter Solstice 2026: When Is the First Day of Winter? What Is the Winter Solstice? The Old Farmer’s Almanac

At The Old Farmer’s Almanac, we’ve been forecasting the weather since the days of George Washington—over 234 years ago—so we know a thing or two about making predictions. In colder regions, winter often means shoveling, snow blowing, dealing with bad roads, and challenging temperatures. Learn more about the Celtic calendar. Meteorological winter starts on December 1 and includes December, January, and February. Thus, meteorologists break the seasons down into groupings of three months. Because of these factors, it’s impossible to point to the same date year after year and call it the coldest day.
In one astronomical reckoning, the winter solstice is the middle of winter; being the day of the year that has fewest hours of daylight. Since by almost all definitions valid for the Northern Hemisphere, winter spans 31 December and 1 January, meaning that the season takes up two calendar years, as summer does in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, depending on the year, this corresponds to the period between 20, 21 or 22 December and 19, 20 or 21 March.
The winter solstice is significant across cultures, signaling the changing of the seasons. Specifically, it’s the exact moment when a hemisphere is tilted as far away from the Sun as possible. When one hemisphere is experiencing its winter winwinter casino solstice, the other is simultaneously experiencing its summer solstice!

Plants

In the « astronomical » reckoning, the timing of « winter » is based on astronomical fixed points (i.e., based solely on the position of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun), regardless of weather conditions. In the Julian calendar used in the ancient Roman world, winter began on 10 November, its midpoint was the winter solstice on 25 December, and winter ended on 6 February. Winter is often defined by meteorologists to be the three calendar months with the lowest average temperatures. Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather.

Winter Solstice

See The Old Farmer’s Almanac Winter Forecast for temperatures, snowfall, and the snowiest periods across the United States. During this days, people wear special clothes, use fruits and vegetables as decorations for their homes and also light special candles. The name of the festival means fresh fruits and based on different African harvest festivals, that were held in ancient times. People celebrate this holiday with families, giving gifts to each other, going to church, singing special songs and having an amazing time with magical atmosphere in the air! Coming of Winter to every country and town is a significant event, that is way there are a lot of celebrations and holidays, regarding to greet this amazing time of the year. The day at the winter solstice is the shortest of the year and the night is the longest.

Equinoxes

Thankfully, after we reach the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and longer again until we reach the summer solstice—the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. (The Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice occurs in June.) For the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs every year between December 20 and 23, most often on December 20 or 21. If the astronomical or calendrical seasons begin with the equinoxes (spring and autumn) and solstices (summer and winter), in meteorology, they begin earlier and correspond to periods of three full months.

• During the summer, the Sun arcs high in the sky, but during the winter, it arcs lower, closer to the horizon.
• Also winter season is the best time in the year to see starts in t night sky, due to they are the brightest in this time of the year.
• If the polar vortex shifts south, it could send colder-than-average air from Canada farther into the United States.
• It occurs after autumn and before spring, when the hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun as a result of the tilt of Earth’s axis.
• Conversely, winter in the Southern Hemisphere occurs when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted more toward the Sun.
• Thankfully, after we reach the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and longer again until we reach the summer solstice—the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.

In Chinese astronomy and other East Asian calendars, winter is taken to commence on or around 7 November, on Lìdōng, and end with the arrival of spring on 3 or 4 February, on Lìchūn. In Celtic nations, winter began on 1 November and the time around the winter solstice was seen as the middle of winter. Likewise, in Christian Anglo-Saxon calendars, winter began on 7 November, its midpoint was the solstice or Midwinter on 25 December, and winter ended on 6 February. In this region, snow occurs every year in elevated regions such as the Andes, the Great Dividing Range in Australia, the mountains of New Zealand, and in the southerly Patagonia region of South Argentina. The Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI) defines thermal winter as when the daily mean temperatures are below 0 °C (32 °F) for five consecutive days.

Season dates for the year 2026

Warmer and drier conditions are expected in the High Plains, along with below-normal snowfall. Expect milder months in the Upper Midwest to transition to colder-than-normal temperatures as winter continues. Expect colder temperatures in the Ohio Valley, with a wetter eastern area and a number of snowy periods throughout the season. Winter will be tough in the Appalachians, with colder and snowier conditions, especially in the north. But colder-than-usual temperatures are expected from central New England south through the Appalachians and into the Ohio Valley. In the winter season the sun it not active, as usual, temperatures are low and days are really cold.

• Winter will be tough in the Appalachians, with colder and snowier conditions, especially in the north.
• Learn more about the Celtic calendar.
• We often think of the winter solstice as an event that spans an entire calendar day, but the solstice actually lasts only a moment.
• A warmer, drier winter is expected in the Texas–Oklahoma region.
• In Celtic nations, winter began on 1 November and the time around the winter solstice was seen as the middle of winter.
• At The Old Farmer’s Almanac, we’ve been forecasting the weather since the days of George Washington—over 234 years ago—so we know a thing or two about making predictions.

A warmer, drier winter is expected in the Texas–Oklahoma region. Warmer-than-normal temperatures are on tap for the Deep South, with a few chances of snow in the north and wetter conditions to the south. Despite being warmer than normal and less snowy, Lower Lakes conditions will still prove difficult, with above-normal precipitation and a classic winter January. A snowier-than-normal winter is expected from central New England through the Appalachians, in the Intermountain region and Pacific Northwest, and in Alaska. While it won’t be as cold as usual, it’s still winter! Across much of the country, temperatures are expected to be near normal or warmer than normal.
The moment of winter solstice is when the Sun’s elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value; that is, the Sun is at its farthest below the horizon as measured from the pole. It occurs after autumn and before spring, when the hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun as a result of the tilt of Earth’s axis.