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ST. GEORGE — The longest night of the year is cause for celebration in many parts of the world, including Southern Utah. While residents here enjoy an average of 300 days of sunshine a year, winter is still coming with the winter solstice on Wednesday.
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, happens when the sun is at its most southern point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere.
The word solstice is derived from the Latin word, "solstitium," which roughly translates to "the sun stands still." Basically, this means the sun reverses its direction on the winter solstice and begins to move north instead of south.
The day after the winter solstice, the amount of sunlight begins to increase a little each day until the summer solstice in June. Ironically, just because we are getting more sun, the temperatures are actually getting colder. Dr. Samuel Tobler, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Utah Tech, said the temperatures are determined by how much energy is emitted during the nighttime hours when the sun isn't shining.
