Meteorological Winter vs. Real Winter

Well I woke up this morning...went to the car to head off to work, and I couldn't feel my fingers.  It was down right cold in the San Fernando Valley this morning.  We have a fe w Freeze advisories in place for interior valley cities throughout the viewing areas.  You can expect temperatures to remain cool through the holiday weekend.  The good news...Thanksgiving will be ever so slightly warmer...and we'll see sunshine.

As we experience these frigid morning hours, I wanted to share with you the difference between meteorological winter and astronomical winter.  It depends on who you ask which one is the "real" winter.  Astronomical winter is the winter solstice.  This year the solstice occurs on December 21st, 2010 at 3:38 p.m. here in Los Angeles.  This is the shortest day of the year...and the point where earth's equator is 23.5 degrees tilted away from the sun.  Scientists will tell you this is the start to winter.  Meteorological winter starts this weekend.  It really is what weather people consider the winter season.  I think you know what I think...being a meteorologist...I say winter starts this weekend.  The weather feels like it...the holidays are upon us...it's weird to say fall as we embark on the month of December.  Just my two cents...what do you think?