Louisville can expect to see longer days of sunlight soon after winter solstice this week

Ray Padilla, Louisville Courier Journal
·2 min read

Are you ready for the longest night of the year?

The winter solstice, which indicates the longest night and fewest hours of daylight at 10:27 p.m. EST on Thursday. At that time, it marks the astronomical winter for us in the Northern Hemisphere.

For those South of the equator, it will mark the summer solstice, which means summer is starting there.

Despite it being the shortest day of the year, there's a bright side: We will begin to slowly start seeing longer and longer days of sunlight as we move along toward the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice in June.

When is the winter solstice?

The winter solstice occurs Thursday at 10:27 p.m. EST.

The date of the winter solstice varies from year to year and can fall anywhere from Dec. 20-23, but Dec. 21 and Dec. 22 are the most common dates.

When is the summer solstice?

The summer solstice occurs on June 20, 2024 at 4:50 p.m. EST.

The date of the summer solstice varies from year to year and can fall anywhere from June 20-22.

On the winter solstice, the shadow you cast around noontime is the longest all year
On the winter solstice, the shadow you cast around noontime is the longest all year

What does the term 'solstice' mean?

The term "solstice" comes from the Latin words "sol" (Sun) and "sistere" (to stand still). During the solstice, the angle between the Sun's rays and the plane of the Earth's equator appears to stand still.

The phenomenon is most noticeable at the Article Circle where the Sun hugs the horizon for a continuous 24 hours, according to the Farmers' Almanac.

What is the winter solstice?

It's the precise moment at which the Northern Hemisphere is tilted farthest from the sun.

The solstice marks the beginning of winter

The solstice is the astronomical beginning of winter, even though meteorologists view winter as starting Dec. 1, which is the start of the coldest three months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. After the solstice, the amount of daylight slowly starts to get longer again.

However, most locations don't have their earliest sunset or latest sunrise on the solstice. Those events occur either weeks before or after Dec. 21.

Doyle Rice at USA TODAY contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: What to know about winter solstice, longest night of the year