In last week’s blog update I once again tried  to gin up support for dropping daylight savings time (DST) - because – it makes sense to drop it. Even though society and especially the government is generally resistant to change, this is something that has a chance to end up in the dust bin because there are already states and counties in the U.S. who do not observe DST. Also, Russia displayed some common sense and plans to drop the 1 hour time shift this year and indefinitely into the future.

A more daunting effort for change – yet one that makes even more sense - is the topic of this Monday’s blog post. That is - changing the season’s. Having four distinct seasons marked through the year is just fine. Don’t worry snowmobilers, I am not advocating the removal of Winter from the calendar. Nor do I desire a change in the names of the seasons. What needs to change is the beginning and end time of the seasons. We should base the change of the seasons temperature. After all, the defining characteristic of Summer is that it is the warmest time of the year. The defining characteristic of Winter is that it is the coldest time of year. So why does the calendar say Winter ends on March 20th, when the coldest time of the year is already well past? It is because the calendar date of the first day of Spring is based on the position of the sun in the sky – not upon the weather.

Sticking with temperature – if we wanted to define the coldest quarter of the year as Winter then December, January, and February would fit the bill and March 1st would be the first day of Spring. June 1st would be the first day of Summer and so on. Not only would the marking of the seasons make more sense this way, it would be easier to remember than the astronomical calendar which changes every year. The calendar would say “1st Day of Spring” on March 1st and would say “Spring (or Vernal) Equinox” on March 20th. Easy enough, right? Knowing how ingrained in the human psyche are the movement of the sun and astronomically marked calendar, I doubt there will be any radical change anytime soon. Perhaps we could start out with a small change. How about labeling March 1st as “Climatological Spring” and March 20th as “Astronomical Spring”. If this change were to take place, after a while, people might start asking why March 20th is “Spring” if it has little to do with the weather. What do you think? A lost cause?

Enjoy the last day of Winter. Tomorrow it will be Spring! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Seasonal Items

I was watching some of the coverage on the massive storm hitting the Mid-Atlantic states and the Northeast.  It is surely the blizzard so far this year breaking numerous records.  Thousands of people were without power from North Carolina to Washington DC. Numerous flights were cancelled at major airports in New York and DC.  Even the National Guard had to come out and rescue hundreds of stranded cars and passengers.

For more information on the Blizzard check out this link.

Although it has felt like Winter for almost a month now it actually officially begins on Monday.  I really liked this article about the Winter Solstice. On Dec 21st the top half of the planet which is where we are will face directly away from the sun.  This actually leaves Santa and his Reindeer in complete darkness! For the rest of us Monday will officially be the shortest day of the year.  The solstice is the day when the sun crosses the sky at its lowest trajectory in our hemisphere. 

An interesting note, the sun is closer to us during the winter than in the summer.  So why is so cold? It is because of the tilt of the Earth. 

Tomorrowwe will see an Alberta Clipper just brush us to the South.  This means a chance for light snow across the area with the best chance in southwestern counties.  Accumulations will be on the light side with most of us seeing at most an inch although isolated spots could see up to two inches.  The next major storm to effect the US will move in late in the week.  We will be watching this storm as it has the possibility to bring travel problems right around the holiday.  The latest trends are slowing the storm and moving it more south and east. 

Have a great night! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Science, Storms, Travel, Uncategorized, Winter Weather