Starts 2:40AM December 21st
7:38PM Central time
5:30 am
Earth is getting colder at that time. It does not immediately start getting warmer once the winter solstice is passed. It can be up to a month later, before it begins, so the month after a winter solstice is cold. For the summer, it is the same, in that the Earth keeps getting warmer for a time after the summer solstice, so the warmest temperatures are after the summer solstice, before the cooling process starts.
The Winter Solstice is the time when winter begins, or the time when the day is shortest and the night is longest.
The Winter Solstice is the time when winter begins, or the time when the day is shortest and the night is longest.
Days start to get longer on December 21st each year. This is the date of the Winter Solstice which is when the sun is furthest away from the Northern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere this date is June 21st as the seasons are reversed down under.
On Wednesday, December 21, 2011, winter solstice will occur at about 9:28 p.m. PST.
December 21 and 22 are the days the winter solstice takes place. The duration of this day allows the winter solstice to shine directly over the Capricorn not the cancer.
Winter solstice is the time when winter begins, on the shortest day of the year. The date varies a little, and in the northern hemisphere, it is usually on the 21st or 22nd of December.
solstice
at 5:00
Energy from the Sun is constant. However, from any latitude on Earth, the tilt of the Earth's axis of spin means that the effective receipt of solar energy at that latitude will increase from the "winter" solstice for that latitude/hemisphere until the "summer" solstice latitude/hemisphere. Officially this time period covers the seasons of "winter" (from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox) and "spring" (from the vernal equinox to the summer solstice).