The Jeddah Astronomical Society announced the official beginning of winter season in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, lasting approximately 89 days, Saudi Gazette reported.
The winter solstice took place today at 12:20 pm Makkah time on Saturday, Dec. 21, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
As the sun shined directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, today marked the beginning of winter astronomically in the Northern Hemisphere and summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.
Majed Abu Zahra, head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, stated that the solstice is basically due to Earth’s axial tilt of 23.5 degrees and its orbit around the sun. “The tilt, not the Earth’s distance from the sun, is what drives the changing seasons,” Abu Zahra said.
As the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, daylight hours become shorter, while the Southern Hemisphere boasts extended daylight. “Today, locations north of the equator experience less than 12 hours of daylight, while areas south of the equator have days exceeding 12 hours,” he said.
At the same time, the National Center of Meteorology (NCM) predicts a cold air mass over the northern border regions, including Tabuk, Al-Jouf, and Hail. This will begin on Sunday and run until Tuesday, with minimum temperatures ranging between zero and 4 below zero.
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