Today shortest day of year; winter begins

The winter solstice arrives today, bringing with it the day with the shortest period of daylight and heralding the official arrival of Old Man Winter. Below the equator, they begin enjoying summer today, however.

The sun will rise at 7:03 a.m. today and set at 4:40 p.m., offering only 9 hours and 36 minutes of daylight and making for the longest night of the year. However, daylight hours will grow until the summer solstice on June 21, 2018. On that first day of summer, there will be 14 hours and 42 minutes of sunshine.