Winter solstice ushers in the season

SALT LAKE CITY —  Many people see Thursday as just another day closer to Christmas, but it also holds another significance. Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the official start of winter.

KSL Chief Meteorologist Kevin Eubank said winter will officially arrive at 8:27 p.m. Thursday in Salt Lake City.

Unless you’re a meteorologist.

Eubank said meteorologists count Dec. 1. as the beginning of winter. So according to them, we’re nearly a month into the season already.

Eubank said meteorologists group the seasons into three-month blocks of time to help them keep track of things like temperature records and precipitation.

As for the winter solstice, Thursday will be the shortest amount of time the sun is in the sky. It’s the shortest day and longest night of the year.

Eubank said that in Salt Lake, the sunrise was at 7:47 a.m. this morning and the sunset will happen at 5:04 p.m.

The good news is, after today, the days will start to get longer.

“Sunset gets later on and we’ll see a little bit more sunlight during those daytime hours and that’s always a good thing. I think most people enjoy that,” Eubank said.

White Christmas?

“We’re going to stay in a bit of a stagnant, dry pattern through Christmas and into the first of the year,” Eubank said.

But the big question on a lot of people’s minds right now is whether we’re getting snow for the holiday.

Eubank said that it’s unlikely Salt Lake will see a white Christmas.

Although a storm on Saturday will drop snow on the northern mountains and the valley, Eubank said it’ll be so little that it will have melted away by Christmas Day.

“Doesn’t look like we’ll have a white Christmas but hopefully we’ll at least get rid of the bad air and enjoy some clear air for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.”

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