Every year in the northern hemisphere people mark the shortest day and longest night of the year in different ways. For example, St. Lucia's Day, the festival of lights, is celebrated in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway and parts of Finland; and the Yule festival in Germany.
Winter season begins
For many years now, qathet residents have been invited to celebrate the winter solstice by walking on a public labyrinth located inside Sycamore Commons, on the grounds of St. David and St. Paul Anglican Church in Townsite. The winter solstice celebration at the church begins at 4 pm today.
Shortest day
Winter solstice marks the beginning of the official winter season, and according to Brittanica: “A winter solstice happens when a hemisphere’s pole is pointed farthest away from the sun. The sun travels its shortest path through the sky, so the day has the fewest hours of daylight of the year.”
Astronomer's thoughts
David Bohlender, an astronomer at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre, shared a few comments about this year's winter solstice via email with the Peak.
“The sun doesn’t rise until well after 8 am, and we won’t notice the days getting longer for several weeks," said Bohlender. "It’s not until early January that the days become about a minute longer each day so the lengthening day is not very noticeable until mid-January."
He said the days become about 3.75 minutes longer each day at the spring equinox in the qathet region.
"This time of year I’m always amazed that more than 90 per cent of the people who participated in the BC poll about keeping Daylight Saving Time year-round voted in favour of it," said Bohlender. "I keep pointing out that if we stayed on Daylight Saving Time year-round that sunrise wouldn’t be earlier than 8 am until early March. I’d much rather suffer the minor pain of losing an hour of sleep in the spring than have to get up in the dark for six months of the year."
Bohlender suggested a good website that illustrates things for local residents: timeanddate.com/sun/@6112608.
Meteor shower
Currently the Ursids meteor shower is taking place and can be seen in clear dark skies. The peak of the meteor shower will happen on December 23.
According to earthsky.org: “This low-key meteor shower, which always peaks around the solstice, is somewhat overlooked due to the holiday season. Its hourly rate is lower than that of the popular Geminid shower, which peaks over a week before.”
Weather
The qathet region is the wettest region today compared to Whistler, Bowen Island, Horseshoe Bay and Gibsons, according to Weatherhood BC, at 11.1 millimetres of rain. Canadian provinces experienced wild weather in 2023; many experienced wildfires, record temperatures, floods, drought and one tornado in Alberta.
Read about record-setting weather events here: Environment Canada top ten weather events 2023.
Join the Peak’s email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
