It’s winter! Kind of. Meteorological winter started on December 1st. Why do we meteorologists define winter like this?
Take a look. Meteorological winter runs from December 1st through the end of February. Meteorologists, climatologists, and a few in the food growing industry use this definition. We do this because astronomical seasons, the ones you’re more familiar with, actually change a bit year-to-year and we want to be able to compare seasons apples-to-apples, which requires they be the same each year. Let’s look at the Earth rotating around the Sun.
Astronomical winter begins at the winter solstice, when our half of the world is tilted most away from the Sun and we get the least sunlight. The Earth’s orbit is almost a circle, but it’s just a tiny bit oval shaped. That shape means the winter solstice happens at a different time each year.
But there’s also a basic weather reason to group seasons this way. To show you this, check out our average highs in Colorado Springs between November and January. At the start of November, our average high is 59 degrees. On December 1st, we’ve plunged to 47 degrees. At the start of astronomical winter, we’re down a tick to 44, and we’re still there on New Year’s Day. This means we’re much closer to winter conditions on December 1st than fall. The reverse is true in spring.
So there’s the science, here’s a look ahead. An early look at this winter in Colorado suggests above-average temperatures are more likely in the Four Corners and Western Slope regions with closer to average temperatures along I-25.
Regardless of which definition of winter you prefer...bundle up! It’s cold outside.
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