Winter starts this Sunday, December 22nd, and lasts for 88,98 days until the next Equinox, March 20th, 2020.
The coldest season of the year arrives at exactly 4:19 am on December 22nd, a moment that marks the winter solstice.
In the early hours of Saturday to Sunday, if there are no clouds in the sky, this is the best observation night of the year as it is the longest night of the year!
On the first winter day, the sun in Porto rises at 7:57 am and sets at 17:09 pm, with the day lasting 9 hours and 12 minutes.
In Bragança, the day lasts 9:08 am (from 7:51 am to 16:59 pm), in Coimbra 9:18 am (from 7:53 am to 17:11 pm), in Lisbon 9:28 am (from 7:51 am to 17:19 pm), in Faro 9:37 am (from 7:42 am to 17:19 pm).
In the Azores archipelago (Ponta Delgada), the day lasts 9:33 am (from 7:55 am to 17:28 pm), while in Madeira (Funchal), the day lasts 10 hours (from 8:06 am to 18:06 pm).
Although temperatures vary across the country, with snow in some locations, the winter in Portugal is considered mild, especially when compared to temperatures recorded in Portuguese thermometers and in other countries in the northern hemisphere.
While the average in Portugal is 8 °C minimum temperature, in Russia, which is considered one of the coldest countries in the world, thermometers reach -20 °C.
Winter is called the “Boreal winter” in the northern hemisphere, while it is called the “southern winter” in the southern hemisphere.
The winter solstice is the time when the sun is furthest south and thus dictates the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of summer in the southern hemisphere.
Os solstices are points of the ecliptic at which the Sun reaches the maximum and minimum heights (angular distance) in relation to the Equator, that is, points at which the solar declination reaches extremes: maximum at the summer solstice (+23° 26′) and minimum at the solstice of Winter (-23° 26′).
The word, of Latin origin (solstitium), is associated with the fact that the Sun stops its daily movement away from the equatorial plane and “parks” when it reaches its highest or lowest position in the local sky.
The winter solstice day is the shortest day of the year and therefore the day with the longest night. The good news is that, from this date onwards, the days get longer and longer, until the next solstice, the summer, on June 20, 2020.
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