Winter commences in the year 2025?
Alright, let's suss out when the winter of 2025 is gonna drop on us down here, Southern Hemisphere style.
You know, winter doesn't just show up outta nowhere, it's announced at a solstice - an astronomical bash where the southern hemisphere gets as far away from the sun as it can, causing temperatures to plummet. On the other hand, the northern hemisphere is cozying up to the sun like a sun-loving cat, so summer rolls in there.
The change of season always happens around mid-June, more specifically between the 20th and 21st, and there's a special date for it called the winter solstice. This event is calculated by bods like the Naval Hydrographic Service, who provide accurate info on when the winter of 2025 starts.
Now, you might be wondering why the dates of solstices and equinoxes don't match from year to year. That's because the tropical year - the time it takes for the sun to pass through the winter equinox - is slightly longer than the Gregorian calendar year. So, "only after a cycle of 400 years, the seasons begin again on the same days, approximately".
According to the naval bods, winter's gonna kick off on June 20th, at 11:42 pm, that's when the solstice happens. And, just in case you're curious, the term 'solstice' comes from the Latin 'solstitium', which means 'the sun stops'.
Now, let's talk about what the heck a solstice is. This event occurs twice a year, in June and December, and signals the start of two seasons - winter and summer. These seasons are mainly distinguished by their temperature differences. The solstice is the point where the Earth is at its maximum or minimum tilt towards or away from the sun, affecting the season and its temperatures.
In the Southern Hemisphere, we've already started to feel a nip in the air, with a gradual drop in temperatures in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA) and surrounds. Elsewhere in the country, temperatures have plummeted more noticeably. After some rain in the AMBA, the climate's started to resemble winter and bid farewell to the spring warmth. The National Meteorological Service (SMN) predicts that this trend will continue in the coming days.
As the last week of May approaches, a polar air mass will start to advance from the south, and by May 28th, it'll cover most of the country. Between May 28th and May 31st, we can expect a peak in this cold current. In the center and north of the country, min temperatures will move between -4°C and 8°C, while max temps won't exceed 10 to 16 °C. The Patagonian region will experience even colder temperatures with min temps dropping to -10°C and max temps not exceeding 10°C, with negative records possible in several localities during the afternoons.
On May 28th, there will also be episodes of heavy rain affecting the province of Buenos Aires. Between 30 to 80 millimeters of rain is expected, with the highest values towards the north of the Litoral. These rains will mark the beginning of the air mass change and could be accompanied by strong winds from the south, with speeds between 30 and 50 km/h and gusts of up to 80 km/h.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on December 21st, 2025. This marks the shortest day and longest night in regions like the United States and Europe. Temperatures during the winter solstice can vary significantly based on the region, with daytime temperatures in cities like Sydney ranging from 12°C to 18°C and nighttime temps dropping to around 8°C to 12°C.
The environmental science department of the company might be studying the impact of the approaching winter on the Southern Hemisphere's weather patterns, as the winter solstice occurrence on June 20th, 2025, is expected to trigger a significant drop in temperatures. Moreover, the company could use this data to examine how the weather changes during the transition from spring to winter, particularly in areas like the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA) and the Patagonian region.
