Today, at 6:46 pm, marked the Winter Solstice - this is when the Sun is at its most Northerly point in the sky. At the middle of the day on June 21, it reaches its lowest altitude, from the Northern horizon, for the year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, most consider the solstices to mark the first day of a new season. In New Zealand (and some other countries of the Southern Hemisphere), however, the first day of the new season is generally considered to be the first day of the months of the Solstice (e.g., June 1st for winter). I was initially mistaken when I assumed the 21st to mark the first day of winter, as you will notice from blog comments. At any rate, I'm looking forward to days getting longer over the coming months.
Interestingly, Wellington is 42 degrees south of the equator and Boston (my home town) is 42 degrees north of the equator. Despite that, Wellington's maritime climate is remarkably mild with temperatures generally between 40 - 80 Fahrenheit.
3 comments:
Er, um, most consider June 1 to be the first day of winter. Today is the shortest day of the year (the Winter Solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere. The days get longer from here—and we're all glad of that, especially with the current wintry blast.
Wow - Thanks Arthur! You're the first commentator on my blog who I haven't met! I didn't realise that June 1 was the first day of winter here - it has been a lot milder than winters in Boston (and I'm happy for that!).
Here's to longer days ahead!
Yes, I believe the 1st of June, September, December and March mark the seasons in Australia too. We love your blog, so keep it going and enjoy Samoa.
Mark, Bridget & Ella
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