When does winter start? Date of 2024 winter solstice, shortest day of year.

Although we’ve already had some blasts of arctic air and some snow in recent weeks, the official start of winter is coming this weekend. The season known for snowstorms, icy windshields and bone-chilling days will begin on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024.

Winter’s precise arrival — at 4:20 a.m. Eastern Standard Time — is technically known as the winter solstice and will make Saturday the shortest day of the year in terms of how much daylight we get.

In New York City, there will only be 9 hours, 15 minutes and 16 seconds of daylight, according to the time experts at TimeAndDate.com.

The good news, for those of us who hate being stuck indoors on dark, cold days, is each day after Saturday will feature a bit more sun. As we get to late June, as the summer solstice nears, our region will be getting more than 15 hours and 5 minutes of sunlight each day.

But first things first. As the cold weather season approaches, here are some facts about the start of winter.

What is the winter solstice?

The winter solstice — also known as the December solstice — is an astronomical event, based on the Earth’s tilt away from the sun. It occurs when the tilt of the North Pole is positioned the farthest from the sun, causing less light to reach the northern half of our planet.

Although it may feel a little gloomy to have so much darkness, after Dec. 21, each day will gradually grow longer and the nights will grow shorter as we inch our way closer to spring and summer.

Why is it called a solstice?

The word “solstice” originated from the Latin word “solstitium.” It is a combination of sol, which means sun, and stitium or sisto, which means to stop or stand still.

The latter word refers to the sun appearing to briefly stop moving at the moment winter arrives, and also at the moment summer arrives — which is why the start of summer is known as the summer solstice.

It’s not winter for everyone

Flashback to science lessons: It’s not winter in every part of the world. For people living in the southern hemisphere, Dec. 21 marks the start of their summer season.

In that part of the world, Saturday will be the longest day and shortest night of the year — the opposite of what’s happening here in the northern hemisphere.

Did winter start on Dec. 1?

As weather forecasters often remind us, there are actually two different starting dates for the winter season.

In the weather world, meteorologists and climatologists always consider Dec. 1 to be the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere — with the cold season running through all of December, January and February.

This is known as the “meteorological winter,” and it is based on the annual temperature cycle instead of the Earth’s journey around the sun.

December, January and February tend to be the coldest months of the year, so the people who run our weather agencies and compile statistics base their winter climate records and seasonal forecasts on those three months.

The other winter season — the one most people recognize — starts each year on Dec. 21 (sometimes on Dec. 22) and runs through March 20 or March 21. That’s known as the “astronomical winter.”

Will we get a lot of snow this winter?

After three straight winters with below-average amounts of snow in New Jersey — including one that was the second lowest on record — it won’t take much frozen precipitation to please the snow lovers and annoy the snow haters.

In case you’re wondering if we are in for a rough winter or an average one, here’s a rundown of early winter predictions issued by the National Weather Service, AccuWeather and other private forecasting companies in the Garden State region.