The winter solstice, considered the first day of astronomical winter (as opposed to meteorological winter, occurs in our Northern Hemisphere between December 20 through 23. The Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice comes in June.
This year, the winter solstice falls December 21 at 10:03 EST. But right now, on Dec. 17, 2025, it is 40 degrees outside.
However, the weather is supposed to go back down to its normal freezing temps Friday, so we’ll shortly see if Sunday brings back winter as we in Chicago know it. (Go to Time Zone Converter in the Old Farmer’s Almanac to learn when that is where you live.
The somewhat bad news is that the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year because it has the fewest hours of sunlight.
The good news is that the days will begin to grow longer until we are back at the summer solstice which marks the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. The other good news is that the days will now get brighter.
Meteorological winter started about 3 weeks before the solstice.
For more information visit Winter Solstice 2025: When Is the First Day of Winter? What Is the Winter Solstice? | The Old Farmer’s Almanac and Winter solstice 2025: Your ultimate guide to the shortest day of the year | Live Science
