Winter Solstice 2009 Officially Brings First Day of Winter

The Winter Solstice 2009 is officially the first day of winter. To the East Coast, the Winter Solstice 2009 is pretty late, since winter already got here. After an historic blizzard blew by this weekend, it's fairly clear that the new season arrived a few days early. Yet the Winter Solstice 2009 is here to make it official, and also bring the shortest day of the year.

At around the 20'th and 21'st of December, the first day of winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere. The season begins with the shortest day of the year, since this is the time when the Earth tilts farthest from the sun. According to the Daily World Buzz, the official time of the Winter Solstice 2009 is 12:47 pm est.

After that comes the longest night of the year, and the expected cold weather. But the East Coast has already gotten a crash course preview of that. Most Northeast residents likely stayed out all day yesterday, either playing in 1-2 feet of snow, or trying to dig out of it before going back to work. Today, the cleaning up continues, with not much sunlight to do it in.

Although the Winter Solstice 2009 is the technical beginning of winter, the start of the season is a lot sooner in our hearts and minds. This is a time where Thanksgiving is pretty much the first day of Christmas, so winter tidings and ceremonies begin far sooner than December 21. And this year, no matter what kind of winter weather comes, it will have a hard time topping the recent "fall" storms.

Still, the first day of winter remains a time of celebration around the world. Ceremonies to honor the solstice go back thousands of years, with roots in Roman, German and Pagan culture. Like with the summer solstice, pagans are set to embrace the start of winter with their own ceremonies.

But the rest of the culture may be worn out with celebrations for the moment. At around this time, Christmas fatigue can set in, with four days left until the actual day. After that comes preparations for New Years, and the start of a new decade. With a whole decade to send off, the usual Christmas ordeals, and these recent winter storms, the Winter Solstice 2009 has to share the spotlight more than ever this year.

Yet today is an important milestone, as the last winter solstice of the decade. But for East Coast kids, even if they get to stay home from school today, they'll have to come in before dark a little earlier.

Sources

National Geographic- "Winter Solstice 2009: Facts on Shortest Day of the Year"

Daily World Buzz- "Winter Solstice 2009: Shortest Day of the Year to Welcome the Biggest Celebration"