When does winter start for you? (snow, warm, temperatures, days)

[ben86]

In my country there is no official first day of winter. Older people generally say December 21st, meteorologists say December 1st, but this year there's been a very early and prolonged spell of widespread snow and freezing temperatures which would be notable in any month, and it's almost as dark as it's going to get. As far as I am concerned winter this year started around November 24th, as with the bare trees and dark nights it's not going to feel autumnal again after this. Last year, our coldest winter in decades, it didn't really get cold until the week before Christmas, and in some years typical autumn weather patterns of low pressure systems and mild winds from the southwest never really let up for long, so apart from the darkness it never feels much like winter, so in my location a specific date for the changing of the seasons wouldn't make much sense.

How does this compare elsewhere? Do you experience a sudden change in the weather around a certain date, or would somebody in Edmonton on December 20th still think it's autumn with a foot of snow on the ground and -15C, or would somebody in Miami really think it's ever proper winter at all?

[Sunnydee]

Winter starts for me when the temperatures dip below 32 degrees F - freezing point and I have to put on my long underwear to stay warm. I try to ignore it initially, but then we get a dusting of snow, like we did yesterday, and it's undeniable. I'm not a big fan of winter.

[FVWinters]

For me, winter sets in good and proper when the northern Pacific storm track migrates far enough south to give us our annual dose of gloom and slop. That can be as early as mid September or hold off until after Christmas.

I call it winter when our part of the world is subjected to a nearly endless cycle of showers followed by rain; when low pressure systems queue up from the West Coast clear across the Pacific all the way to the Kamchatka Peninsula, all eager to have a go at us. The sun disappears for days at a time and we who live west of the Cascades, chill to the bone and start to mildew and rust.

Winter is not an especially pleasant time for me, either but without winter and the aggrivating rain it brings, our agricultural economy would be in tatters, our forested mountains and hillsides denuded and our rivers and streams nothing more than dry washes. That wouldn't be pleasant either.

[nei]

I'd say once we get highs below 40°F or so somewhat regularly, it's winter. Usually that's near the first week of December where I live. Also this is when snow starts to be likely. I wouldn't go with night temperatures to mark the start of winter since we get temperatures in the day of 60-65°F (15-18°C) while nights drop to well below freezing (as low as 23°F -5°C). This combination is spring or fall to me, not winter.

When I lived in Long Island winter came perhaps two weeks later.

[dhdh]

Depends on the place from where I've lived, I'd say :

-In Hong Kong, I'd say around early January because December is still sunny with highs of around 21C/70F. So winter is about January and February which are cloudier with ~18°C highs, especially February that can be quite gloomy. The problem in Hong Kong is, although winter is really mild, spring seems never to come in terms of light because March-April-May are the most cloudy months and the days doesn't really get longer. So for a "summer" atmosphere, November would be even better than June, although cooler.

-In northern France (Paris/Lille), the end of daylight saving time (late October) is basically the start of winter because it is when the days start getting really cooler and gloomy. In Lille we had the first freezing temperatures in mid-October this year.

-In southern France (Nice) it's more tricky to define. I'd go for early December.

[nei]

Another example of why freezing temperatures (at night?) are not a good indication of winter for me. I assume people weren't having day temperatures below freezing in mid-October!

Anyhow this spring we had a number of days in April and May above 30°C but we one night to went to freezing in mid-May. mid-May is not really even in the middle of spring, but late spring and getting close to summer.

[ilovemycomputer90]

I would agree with nei. Usually late November/early December. There have been many days with highs only in the 40s, even a couple 30s.

Although next week is expected to get into the 50s.

[MrMarbles]

I'd say when the highs get below 50F. Usually this happens in late November.

[dance-alyssaxo]

right after thanksgiving lol

[Cavaturaccioli]

Anecdotally speaking it's when I have to get my heavy coat out of the closet. I notice that as I get older winter seems to come a tad earlier each year.