Winter

Basic outline of Earth's inclination and the incidence of solar rays as the Earth moves around the sun.

Near Lake Achensee, Tyrol (Austria) during the boreal winter.

Cascade Goðafoss, Iceland, during the winter.

I invest in Finland.

Winter allegory in the
peace of Lóngora (Oleiros, Galicia, Spain).

The winter or winter (from the Latin [tempus] hibernum 'winter [season]') is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. It follows fall and precedes spring. This season is characterized by shorter days, longer nights, and lower temperatures as we move further from the equator. In some countries of the intertropical zone, the term rainy season is used to refer to a time of greater precipitation and rainfall, although sometimes the word "summer" is used to refer to the dry season, and "winter" to the rainy season..

Causes

Like the other seasons of the year, winter is caused by the inclination of 23.44 degrees of the Earth's axis on its orbital plane.

Period and duration

From an astronomical point of view, it begins with the winter solstice, on December 21 in the northern hemisphere and June 21 in the southern hemisphere, and ends with the spring equinox, around March 21 in the northern hemisphere and September 22 in the southern hemisphere, the dates varying slightly depending on the year. The fact that the Earth's orbit is elliptical translates into a shorter duration of winter in the northern hemisphere and longer than this in the south, since aphelion occurs in July, during the austral winter, and in January the perihelion during the boreal. In short, winter lasts about four days longer in the southern hemisphere than in the boreal.

From a meteorological point of view, on the other hand, the entire months of December, January and February in the northern hemisphere and June, July and August in the southern hemisphere are usually considered winter.

Features

Winter is the coldest season of the year, and its characteristics are inevitably defined in contrast to the other seasons of the year; since during the winter days the temperatures are lower and there are fewer hours of sunlight. These characteristics are accentuated as we move away from the tropics and approach the polar circles.

In some regions of the planet, depending on their latitude, altitude and certain weather conditions, snowfall can be observed.

In equatorial countries where there are only two seasons throughout the year, it is known as the "rainy season."

Mythological explanations of winter

In Greek mythology, Hades, god of the underworld, kidnaps the beautiful Persephone to make her his wife. Zeus orders Hades to return it and give it to Demeter, goddess of the earth and her mother. However, Hades tricks Persephone into eating pomegranate seeds, food from the underworld that forces her to stay there forever. Demeter, without her daughter Persephone does not have happiness therefore she does not take care of the earth. Zeus, seeing that the earth was left desolate, the plants dried up and died, reaches an agreement for Persephone to spend six months with Demeter and six months with Hades. During the time that her daughter is with Hades, Demeter becomes sad and causes autumn and winter.