When does winter weather actually begin?

Arab Weather - With the start of December 2025, many weather enthusiasts are asking an important question: When does winter officially begin in Jordan and the Levant? Despite the region experiencing several rainy periods last month, the actual start of winter, which is considered the coldest and rainiest period in the region, usually comes after the winter solstice.

When does the winter solstice occur and when does the winter season begin?

Sunday, December 21, 2025, marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, including the Arab world, according to astronomical calculations. What distinguishes this day is that the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn, south of the equator, representing its southernmost apparent point in the sky.

December 21, 2025 will be the first day of winter astronomically, and the shortest day and longest night in the northern hemisphere of the Earth throughout the entire year.

It is noted that humans noticed the importance of this day and distinguished it before the existence of modern technology and even before the arrangement of days and months as is happening in our current era. They noticed that after this day the sun begins to ascend northward in its apparent movement, where the length of the night decreases and the length of the day gradually increases until the night is equal to the day on March 20th, which is the date of the spring equinox.

On this day, the beginning of the "winter forty days" is announced in the Levant and many Arab countries, as this date was associated in the memories and experiences of the ancestors with the coldest and rainiest days of the year for a period of forty days, which is consistent with the statistical climate situation, as the angle of the tilt of the earth after this date works to increase the number and activity of the low-pressure systems that affect the Levant region and the Arabian Peninsula during this period.

The path of the low-pressure systems also becomes more suitable for the region to be affected by them, and this is proven by climate records, as the Al-Murabba’aniyah period witnesses the lowest temperatures of the year in the region, and this period also witnesses the highest rainfall rates climatically.

We ask God that the coming winter will be full of goodness and blessings for the country and its people.