BY THE NUMBERS
By The Numbers, a look at what’s in the news . . . by the numbers. These are just numbers, not suggestions that they mean more or less than what they are. We do not suggest that one number is connected to another. These are simply facts with no extraneous details, bias or slanted reporting. To borrow (and perhaps mangle a bit) a quote from legendary fictional detective Joe Friday, it’s just the numbers, ma’am!
It’s still fall . . . although you wouldn’t know it by looking outside. As we know, winter does not OFFICIALLY start until Sunday – regardless of what the weather has been, or is, doing. Of course the calendar doesn’t really matter when it comes to scraping windshields, shoveling sidewalks and drives, bumping up the thermostat and maybe adding an extra blanket at night. Heck, we KNOW it’s cold. And in less than a week, we will also know it’s officially winter. So with that in mind, this week we dive into winter . . . by the numbers.
12-21-25
That’s the date this year when winter rolls in. Of course this is just for us folks in the Northern Hemisphere. Winter in the Southern Hemisphere begins in June. And for those keeping score at home, the winter solstice usually happens every year on Dec. 21 or Dec. 22 (on rare occasions it can fall or Dec. 20 or 23, depending on the planet’s orbit and leap years.
10:03 a.m.
For those REALLY keeping score at home, the winter solstice this year happens Sunday morning at 10:03, just about the time church gets going.
9 hours, 21 minutes
The shortest day of the year, of course, is the winter solstice. For us Hoosiers, that means the sun will rise Sunday at 8:02 a.m. and set at 5:23 p.m., only 9 hours and 21 minutes apart.
23.5
The earth is titled at about 23.5 degrees. On the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is at a point on the tilt that is the farthest from the sun (with the Southern Hemisphere being at its closest point). Because of that, we receive less sunlight and as we all know, get colder!
89 or 90
How long is winter? Well, it depends on what measurement you go by. The astronomical winter begins Dec. 21 and lasts through March 19 – 89 days. But the meteorological winter runs from Dec. 1 through Feb. 28, 2026 – 90 days. That means we like the astronomical winter better because it’s shorter. Oh! But then again, the meteorological spring begins March 1 instead of March 19! Dilemmas!
25.2 to 39.6
That’s the average low and high temp in central Indiana on Dec. 21, the winter solstice.
34.6 to 54.0
The average low and high temp in central Indiana on March 20, the spring solstice.
2-4-26
Just two days after Groundhog Day we can say we’ve reached the halfway point of winter. For those who love the snow and cold, it marks the beginning of the end. For those looking forward to a warmer season, just a little more than six weeks to go!
8th century The Greek god Boreas was one of the first “Old Man Winters.” He came to being somewhere around the 8th century BC and was known as the Greek god of the north wind and winter. Of course there have been numerous depictions of Old Man Winter. He’s most often seen as an icy figure blowing frost, ice and snow over t