Although the meteorological winter began at the start of December, the astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere is still yet to begin, with a change on the calendar approaching in the coming days. The winter solstice marks the official start of the astronomical winter, while also representing the start of astronomical summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

According to NASA, the precise timing of the winter solstice this year will occur at 9:27 PM on December 21st, making that the shortest day of the year in terms of total daylight.

Not only does the solstice represent the lowest amount of daylight, but it also represents the moment in time when the Earth’s axis is tilted furthest away from the sun, according to astronomers.

Here in Northwest Georgia, sunrise on Thursday will be at 7:43 AM and the sun will set at 5:16 PM.

After Thursday, the daylight hours will start to get longer until the summer solstice arrives in June of next year.

According to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia, we can expect sunny skies with highs in the upper 50’s on the “shortest day of the year”.