Winter has officially arrived, with many northern states already seeing snow and cold (although it has been warmer than usual in some spots), and southern states seeing chillier than normal temperatures this month.
But we’re here to present the ultimate glass-is-half-full outlook, despite the snow, cold. wind chills and darker days.
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We’ve hit the bottom point of the year when it comes to daylight in the Northern Hemisphere, and we’re only going up from here!
The winter solstice was on Thursday night, meaning each day from now until June 21 will feature gains in daylight.
The exact amount throughout the 48 lower states will vary slightly, but using the central location of Chicago, here’s how the daylight gains will break down in the coming months, according to Almanac.
- Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the amount of daylight will increase by four minutes total.
- After New Year’s, the amount of daylight starts to jump more exponentially, going up roughly two minutes a day by the middle of January.
- By Feb. 20, the average daylight gain is three minutes a day. This is the average daily gain until about May.
- Once May arrives, the amount of daylight gain each day slows back down to two minutes.
- Come June, in the days leading up to the summer solstice, the increase in daylight slows further until about a minute a day.
For the next six months at least, step into the light — the increased daylight, that is!