Winter fruit salad is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.

In many regions, winter brings snow and freezing temperatures. The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates outside the polar regions differ from the date of the winter solstice and depend on latitude. The tilt of the Earth’s axis relative to its orbital plane plays a large role in the formation of weather. The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23. Sun as the Earth moves through its orbit. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere faces the Sun more directly and thus experiences warmer temperatures than the Northern Hemisphere. During winter in either hemisphere, the lower altitude of the Sun causes the sunlight to hit the Earth at an oblique angle.

Thus a lower amount of solar radiation strikes the Earth per unit of surface area. Furthermore, the light must travel a longer distance through the atmosphere, allowing the atmosphere to dissipate more heat. In comparison, Vancouver on the west coast with a marine influence from moderating Pacific winds has a January low of 1. N latitude, and in the same western half of the continent. Meteorological reckoning is the method of measuring the winter season used by meteorologists based on “sensible weather patterns” for record keeping purposes, so the start of meteorological winter varies with latitude.

The coldest average temperatures of the season are typically experienced in January or February in the Northern Hemisphere and in June, July or August in the Southern Hemisphere. Accumulations of snow and ice are commonly associated with winter in the Northern Hemisphere, due to the large land masses there. In the mid-latitudes and polar regions, winter is associated with snow and ice. In the Southern Hemisphere winter extends from June to September, pictured in Caxias do Sul in the southern highlands of Brazil.

Astronomically, the winter solstice, being the day of the year which has fewest hours of daylight, ought to be in the middle of the season, but seasonal lag means that the coldest period normally follows the solstice by a few weeks. In an old Norwegian tradition winter begins on 14 October and ends on the last day of February. Scandinavia, the winter solstice is traditionally considered as midwinter, with the winter season beginning 1 November, on All Hallows, or Samhain. This system of seasons is based on the length of days exclusively. The three-month period of the shortest days and weakest solar radiation occurs during November, December and January in the Northern Hemisphere and May, June and July in the Southern Hemisphere. Also, many mainland European countries tended to recognize Martinmas or St.