WASHINGTON 鈥斅燨n Monday night, the winter solstice came at exactly 11:48 p.m.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the precise moment that the Northern Hemisphere, which is the hemisphere that we鈥檙e in, is tilted farthest away from the sun all year,鈥� said NBC4 Meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts.
It marks the start of the astronomical winter and the shortest day of the year.
Starting Tuesday, the days will start to get longer, and we will see more sunlight creep slowly into our mornings and evenings.
But if the Northern Hemisphere is so far from the sun, why is it so warm?
鈥淯sually, our coldest temperatures are sometime in January, toward the end of January, historically speaking. So it doesn鈥檛 really mark the coldest air we鈥檙e going to experience,鈥� Ricketts said.
This week has been warm, thanks to El Nino, Ricketts added.聽鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of factors that go into the forecast and our temperatures. El Nino is so strong 鈥� that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e seeing such a rise in temperatures.鈥�
January, as well, will be a little on the warm side, according to the Climate Prediction Center, she said.
鈥淓ven though we鈥檒l still be far away from the sun,鈥� Ricketts concluded, 鈥渋t will still be winter and that has a lot to do with El Nino.鈥�
