By the cold temperatures we’ve seen this month, you probably thought it was winter already - but this weekend, it’s official.

The winter solstice arrives on Dec. 21.  If the measly nine hours of daylight has got you down – no worries, it’s all about to change.

We will be gaining minutes to that extremely early sunset very soon.

Earth is now at the point in its orbit where the southern hemisphere is fully illuminated, but we are not.

Interesting thing to note is that the Earth is also closest to the sun.  So, that axial tilt really plays a big role here.

We all know that the “shortest day” of the year lands on the winter solstice, but did you know that the earliest sunset time for the year has already passed?

That occurred back on Dec. 7th.

Our latest sunrise will take place on Jan. 7.

This has to do with our axial tilt and that our days aren’t exactly 24 hours, but our clocks are.

Earth’s elliptical orbit plays a role in when these extreme times occur on either side of the solstice.

In the summer, it’s only one week before and after and in the winter it’s two weeks. That’s because the Earth moves a bit faster when it’s in perihelion.

The word solstice comes from the Latin for “sun standing still."

To us on Earth, because we are tilted, it appears as if the sun has been getting lower and lower in the sky.  It is now directly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn instead of the equator, as it was on the first day of Fall.

The sun will now “stop” and turnaround and head back north.

Consequently – our days will be getting a little longer each day through the rest of winter.