Winter is Coming...Lower Sun Angles & Cold

You have probably noticed the angle of the sun changing in the southern sky.  It's sad to think about the loss of daylight as we head toward the winter solstice.  It's always fun to ask people why cold air is so prevalent to our north in Canada?  Most folks say, well, because the arctic is cold.  That's true it's colder, but why?

It's all about the sun angle, and at the poles direct sunlight is lacking.  A very limited angle creates the colder temperatures to our north.  Look to the south during the day and you will see a noticeable difference with the sun angle across our area.

The sun angle in September is still pretty high at 47 degrees.  Once you get into November, the angle decreases to 31 degrees, and bottoms out at 24 degrees in December.  That's a loss of 23 degrees from the fall to the winter.

Of course we start climbing again during January with an angle of 31 degrees!