Winter is a season that occurs in areas that are poleward of the tropics. It is a time when the Sun is lowest in the sky, and so it heats the air and the ground less than any other time of the year.
Winter begins at very different times in different parts of the world. The closer you are to the poles, the sooner frosts begin and snow starts to fall. For people living in areas where snow falls every year, autumn/fall is short and winter starts with the first snowfalls.
In many areas winter is December to March, well past the darkest time of the year. That is because the ground takes time to cool down, and so the coldest, most wintry, time of year is late January, not late December (the shortest day).
This text from the winter video contains the main points to know:
Winter belongs to places in the world north of the tropics. These places have a cold, sometimes very cold, season.
How cold it gets depends on where you live. Places far from the coast tend to be colder and icier for longer than those closer to the oceans. Winds blowing from oceans keep temperatures near the coasts more mild than elsewhere.
The winter season is caused by the Sun not rising as high in the sky as at other times of the year. As a result, the amount of Sun's energy received is much smaller than at other times of the year. This is coupled by long nights, which give time for the ground to lose any heat it received during the day. So slowly, but surely, the ground cools and cools.
This cooling all takes time, so in general, the coldest part of the year is not mid-December (which is the shortest day), but late January.
There are two critical temperatures for winter. Below 6 degrees Celsius and plants stop growing. Below 0 egress Celsius you get frost and many plants freeze. Conifers have leaves with antifreeze in them, so they are OK. Deciduous trees do not, and have to shed their leaves in Autumn. So by winter these trees stand bare. Other plants have seeds that stay dormant until warmer weather arrives. It is winter that stops farms growing crops right through the year.
In frost, puddles begin to turn to blocks of ice. The patterns are ice crystals.
Snow occurs in places far from the coast every year. It may not be a lot, but it lasts and lasts. By the coast there are sometimes snowstorms, sometimes not.
For those who always get snow it is not a problem because they are used to it. Animals are taken inside, snow ploughs are got out, chains put on tyres and more. People in these parts are used to driving in the snow. It is those places which get snow rarely where everything stops – because they do not have the equipment or experience at driving in snow and ice.
Winter causes heating bills to rise, but on the bright side, it is a time to make snowballs and to go skiing. Many people make their living from reliable snow, and skiing resorts in mountains are now at their busiest.
