Overview
- Meteorological winter runs on fixed calendar months from December 1 to February 28 in 2025, a convention used for climate records and forecasts.
- Astronomical winter begins at the December solstice on Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 10:03 a.m. Eastern, the year’s shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Local clock times vary by time zone for the same solstice instant, including 7:03 a.m. PST in California, 10:03 a.m. EST in New York, 6:03 a.m. AKST in Alaska, and 5:03 a.m. HAST in Hawaii.
- El Comercio published a state-by-state table listing the exact local time of the 2025 winter solstice across the United States.
- NOAA data highlight seasonal lag, with the coldest conditions often arriving weeks after the solstice, typically late December or into January in places like California.