Amidst our winter of discontent, there is some good news on the horizon (literally): The days are getting longer.
As this is being written, we will have passed the first full month of the astronomical winter (which starts on December 21 and ends on March 21) and we will have completed almost two months of the meteorological winter season, which is defined as December, January, and February.
On December 14, the sun set at 4:13 in the afternoon and on December 21 (the start of astronomical winter) the total amount of daylight was just nine hours and eight minutes. But on this Friday, January 29, the sun will be setting at 4:56 in the afternoon and we will have nine hours and 56 minutes of daylight. The longer days, combined with the positive news on COVID-19 vaccines, signal hope for the future that sunnier days lie ahead