With all the holiday activities for December, it is easy to overlook or forget the natural happenings of this month. Typically, December is one of our colder months with an average temperature of about 14 degrees. This invariably includes temperatures below zero that balance the occasional day of nearly 40 degrees.
Though not our snowiest month, we do regularly get snowfalls with an average of about 15 inches. Once again, extremes exist, and we've seen them in the Northland during the last few years. In December 2002, hardly three inches was recorded, while the last month of 1996 dumped 42 inches of snow upon our landscape. Nearly every year, we enjoy the holidays with a white background.
The most consistent natural event is neither of these weather notes, but instead it is the darkness. Among other names for this month is the "Dark Month." Though it appears to be unlikely for this time of year, December is the month of least daylight. Sunrises are late while sunsets are early. During the first two-thirds of the month, the days shrink in their lighted portions as we head towards the winter solstice. Once this milestone is passed, the days slowly begin to lengthen. The winter solstice, also known as the first day of winter, varies its date a bit, but is usually on or about Dec. 21. This year, the winter solstice will be reached at 1:04 a.m. on Dec. 22. Amid chilly temperatures, the sunlight will show for only about 8 1/2 hours; leaving 15 1/2 hours of darkness.
A strange phenomenon happens during the second week of December. At this time, we experience the earliest sunsets of the year. Daylight exits at about 4:20 p.m. on each of these days, and though we are still not at the solstice, the sunsets begin to be later each day after this time. With sunrises that are later each day as well, the days don't get longer until after the winter solstice. Sunrises continue to get later until the end of the month. After reaching the latest time of about 7:55 a.m., they become earlier in the new year.
With the earliest sunsets of the year, it is easy to see why or how this time of December can be known as the dark week. Less daylight and more darkness can make for great sky watching.
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And quite a show now awaits those willing to take a chilly celestial view. Venus and Mars both are regular sky sights after sunsets. Jupiter and Saturn are very bright in the pre-dawn sky and will be for at least the next month. And as an added attraction, the Gemenid meteor shower of mid-December is worth a look as well. This year, it is best seen on the weekend nights of Dec.13-14.
Days are short and cold, but we are treated to dazzling late sunrises and early sunsets. With these and other sky watching, December is an interesting and dynamic step into winter.
Larry Weber is author of the "Backyard Almanac" and "Butterflies of the Northwoods." He lives in Carlton County and teaches natural science at Duluth's Marshall School.
