Winter

Winter

Temperate season
Forest covered in snow during winter
Northern temperate zone
Astronomical season	22 December – 21 March
Meteorological season	1 December – 28/29 February
Solar (Celtic) season	1 November – 31 January
Southern temperate zone
Astronomical season	21 June – 23 September
Meteorological season	1 June – 31 August
Solar (Celtic) season	1 May – 31 July
Summer Spring Autumn Winter

Part of a series on
Weather
Temperate and polar seasons Winter Spring Summer Autumn
Tropical seasons Dry season Harmattan Wet season
Storms Cloud Cumulonimbus cloud Arcus cloud Downburst Microburst Heat burst Derecho Lightning Volcanic lightning Thunderstorm Air-mass thunderstorm Thundersnow Dry thunderstorm Mesocyclone Supercell Tornado Anticyclonic tornado Landspout Waterspout Dust devil Fire whirl Anticyclone Cyclone Polar low Extratropical cyclone European windstorm Nor'easter Subtropical cyclone Tropical cyclone Atlantic hurricane Typhoon Storm surge Dust storm Simoom Haboob Monsoon Amihan Gale Sirocco Firestorm Winter storm Ice storm Blizzard Ground blizzard Snow squall
Precipitation Drizzle Freezing Graupel Hail Megacryometeor Ice pellets Diamond dust Rain Freezing Cloudburst Snow Rain and snow mixed Snow grains Snow roller Slush
Topics Air pollution Atmosphere Chemistry Convection Physics River Climate Cloud Physics Fog Mist Season Cold wave Heat wave Jet stream Meteorology Severe weather List Extreme Severe weather terminology Canada Japan United States Weather forecasting Weather modification
Glossaries Meteorology Climate change Tornado terms Tropical cyclone terms
Weather portal
v t e

Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather.

When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. Winter typically brings precipitation that, depending on a region's climate, is mainly rain or snow. The moment of winter solstice is when the Sun's elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value; that is, the Sun is at its farthest below the horizon as measured from the pole. The day on which this occurs has the shortest day and the longest night, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice.

The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates outside the polar regions differ from the date of the winter solstice and depend on latitude. They differ due to the variation in the solar day throughout the year caused by the Earth's elliptical orbit (see: earliest and latest sunrise and sunset).