Vir Suid-Afrika vind die wintersonstilstand om 22:50 vanaand plaas. Vandag sal dus die kortste dag van die jaar wees.
Vow Weather verduidelik dit beteken inderwaarheid die son gaan vir minder ure op die horison sigbaar wees, maar die dag sal steeds 24 uur lank wees. Die weerkanaal verduidelik Vrydag sal ook ‘n kort dag wees, omdat die wintersonstilstand laat in die aand is.
Dit gaan geleidelik begin warmer word soos wat lente nader kom, maar die winter is steeds nie verby nie. Kyk hier bo wat jy van die weer te wagte kan wees.
Lees hier onder hoe Vox Weather die verskynsel van wintersonstilstand verduidelik.
HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE
The 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 (20 June 2024) takes place Thursday (22:50)
𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄?
In simple terms you might hear it referred to as the shortest day of the year
When people say “the shortest day of the year”, they’re not actually talking about the length of the day — because each day is pretty much 24 hours long — but the amount of time the Sun is visible above the horizon.
This happens because the Earth tilts at about 23 degrees, meaning when one side is closest to the Sun, the other side is furthest away.
As the Earth does a lap around the Sun each year, different parts of the planet get more sunlight than others.
That’s why it’s winter in South Africa when it’s summer in Europe.
So when the Southern Hemisphere has winter solstice, it’s summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
In Latin, “solstice” roughly translates to “Sun’s standstill”
As midwinter approaches, we see the Sun rise at a point further northward on the horizon each day .
On some day, that point stops moving northward, then moves southward.
The day on which it stopped, or stood still, is the winter solstice.
BUT which day is the shortest day of the year?
In 2024, the winter solstice is on June 20 at 22:50 UTC. However, because the solstice moment is very close to midnight, both the 20th and 21st will be very much the same length, and we need to look at different time zones to determine which day is indeed the shortest.
Time Zones Very Close to UTC (e.g., South Africa, most of western Africa): These regions will experience the solstice late in the evening of June 20. Even though the solstice moment occurs on June 20, the shortest day would technically be June 21 due to the closer proximity of daylight hours to the solstice time
𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖?
Meteorological and astronomical autumn start on 2 different dates
Many people consider the Winter Solstice to be the official start of winter, but for us meteorologists, the new season kicks off weeks before the astronomical event.
Meteorological seasons are more consistent, with the four seasons being broken into groups of three months.
• Meteorological autumn is March, April and May.
• Meteorological winter is June, July and August.
• Meteorological spring is September, October and November.
• Meteorological summer is December, January and February.
By following the civil calendar and having less variation in season length and season start, it becomes much easier to calculate seasonal statistics from the monthly statistics, both of which are very useful for agriculture, commerce and a variety of other purposes
The GOOD news is that as from today the daytime lengths will gradually increase and night-time lengths decrease as we move closer to SPRING 
BUT that does not mean it’s getting warmer….yet
Because there’s a temperature lag.
All objects take time to cool down or heat up
After winter solstice, the longer daylight hours heat the air, ground and oceans but it takes a few weeks for that to become apparent in the temperature readings.
