--- description: The winter solstice will fall on the early morning of Dec. 22 UTC, marking the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. title: What You Need to Know About Winter Solstice 2015 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [weather](/tag/weather/) ## weather Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What You Need to Know About Winter Solstice 2015 ## Video: The Promising Language Of The Paris Climate Agreement [Watch (HLS stream): The Promising Language Of The Paris Climate Agreement](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nLvQPVAz.m3u8) (0:53)  _Published 2015-12-12. Negotiators have approved an ambitious plan to reduce the effects of anthropogenic climate change._  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 5:01 AM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 5:01 AM CUT The winter solstice will fall in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, marking the first day of winter and the [shortest day of the year](http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/new-york?month=12 "undefined") in the Northern Hemisphere. The astronomical event also means it’ll be the longest day of the year for those who live south of the equator. The solstice starts at 4:48 a.m. UTC on Dec. 22 (which is 11:48 p.m. ET on Dec. 21), the moment when the Northern Hemisphere is pointed at its farthest distance from the sun. **READ MORE**: [_5 Things to Know About the Winter Solstice_](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/21/5-things-to-know-about-the-winter-solstice/ "undefined") During the solstice, those on the East Coast of the U.S. will only see nine hours and 15 minutes of daylight. Christmas has become[ associated with winter solstice](http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2010/12/22/132217608/pageants-before-christmas-the-winter-solstice-makes-time "undefined"), which serves as a turning point in the year in many cultures. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4152522/winter-solstice-2015/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4152522/winter-solstice-2015/"},"headline":"What You Need to Know About Winter Solstice 2015","datePublished":"2015-12-21T05:01:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:59:57.259Z","description":"It marks the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere","url":"https://time.com/4152522/winter-solstice-2015/","keywords":["weather"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4152522/winter-solstice-2015/","name":"What You Need to Know About Winter Solstice 2015"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Promising Language Of The Paris Climate Agreement","description":"Negotiators have approved an ambitious plan to reduce the effects of anthropogenic climate change.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nLvQPVAz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-12T15:12:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nLvQPVAz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4152522/winter-solstice-2015/","duration":"PT53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4152522/winter-solstice-2015/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```