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Brighter Days Ahead

Posted at 5:22 PM on January 25, 2011 by Paul Huttner (3 Comments)
Filed under: Astronomy, Climate

Okay I'll admit it. I've got a bad case of SAD.

I tired valiantly to fight it off as long as possible this year...but the January doldrums finally got me. I'm sick of winter, sick of gray, sick of the cold...and I know I'm not alone. Yes, even your friendly neighborhood weatherman gets a little SAD in mid-winter.

Thankfully I've got hockey...the best, adrenaline rush and endorphin pumping workout I know of during these cold winter months. It's also a great way to lose a few extra holiday pounds.

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The good news is even though it's the "dead of winter" there are signs that seasonal change is just a few weeks away. Dare I utter the word...? "Spring?"

Here are some positive benchmarks in the next few weeks:

-Daylight is now rapidly increasing! We're gaining more than 2 minutes a day now. We'll be gaining 3 minutes a day starting next week! You can caluclate the length of daylight for any location at the USNO site here.

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Daylight increases 1 hour 18 minutes in the Twin Cities in February!
(click for bigger image)

-The sun angle increases noticeably in the next few weeks. In less than a month the sun at noon will be 34 degrees above the southern horizon at solar noon. That's a full 12 degrees higher than the 22 degrees on the winter solstice last month.

- Temperatures respond to the increasing solar energy in the next month. Our average high temp reaches 30 degrees in just over 3 weeks, and 45 degrees in the next 60 days!

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(Click for more readable image)

-In just 6 weeks daylight saving time resumes...and the sun will set after 7pm (7:16pm) on March 13th!

-Meteorlogical Spring begins on March 1st, just 34 days from now!

-Asronomical Spring begins on March 20th at 6:21pm!

Bottom line for everyone who's (more than) a little tired of winter, hang in there. Brighter days are truly just around the corner!

PH

Comments (3)

What exactly is meteorological spring vs. astronomical spring?

Thanks!

Posted by Wendy | January 25, 2011 6:13 PM

Paul,

I know how you are feeling. I'm dealing with Seasonal affective disorder too. All the snow and cold has got me down pretty bad too. It's miserable. I'm tired of this winter. It feels like all the energy has been sucked out of me and it's hard to get into any kind of routine. A good thaw would do wonders.

Posted by Ryan | January 25, 2011 11:14 PM

Wendy,

Meteorological Spring is the months of March, April, and May on the calendar, in which temperatures begin to rise towards the summer peak. It's just a classifcation by meterologists

Astronomical Spring is based on the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 20th. Seasons here are based on equinoxes and solstices - the angle of the sun and amount of solor radiation in the hemisphere.

Posted by Ryan | January 25, 2011 11:26 PM

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