Winter arrives Friday afternoon

Winter officially arrives Friday afternoon (Dec. 21) at 4:23 p.m.

The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year and also a full moon. This also means it will be the longest night of the year for folks living in the Northern Hemisphere. That is due to the Earth’s north and south poles creating a maximum tilt away from the sun in our part of the world but a tilt toward the sun in the Southern Hemisphere.

Experts say the solstice and a full moon are two events that don’t coincide very often. In fact, the last time it happened was eight years ago and the next occurrence won’t be until the year 2094.