Today, Dec 21st at 9:30PM Pacific Standard Time is the winter solstice and will mark the longest night of the year and the official start of winter. (5:30AM on Dec 22 UTC)
If you would like some really fascinating reading about how the different cultures of the world mark this important day, check out the Wikipedia article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
Cultures A to Z, it has it all… It’s quite fascinating, in general though, whether it’s the birth of Baby Jesus in Bethlehem or the reemergence of Amaterasu from her cave in Japan, the common theme is one of renewal, hope, and celebration as the sun returns from its seasonal slumber.
On the weather front, unfortunately, the official start of Winter (in Meteorological terms, it has been winter since December 1) does not mean wintertime weather for us.
I should qualify that statement because technically we have still been a few degrees below normal for our daytime highs.. But that just isn’t translating into white stuff.
We will get normal temperature (5C to 6C) on Christmas Eve Saturday and through Sunday when a pretty strong rain system will come through. Santa will need his Sou’Wester and Red rubber boots.
We should then get into a more consistent wet pattern for the week before New Years.
If you ski or snowboard, you should have plenty of fresh powder to play in over the break.
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