Winter’s darkest days trend sunnier with time

Winter scene: Paul Huttner/MPR News

We're now literally entering the darkest days of the year in Minnesota. But before you get depressed about that, know this: winter actually trends sunnier in Minnesota as we move into January and February.

First, the dark stuff. We're now moving through the darkest two weeks of the year in Minnesota. You can see where we are on the annual daylight chart via timeanddate.com

Dec 6th daylight
timeanddate.com

Wednesday's sunset at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is 4:31 p.m. That's the earliest sunset time of the year. Sunset time hovers here until Dec. 15.

12 6 daylight
timeanddate.com

Thanks to Earth's quirky elliptical orbit, the sunset ticks a minute later at 4:32 p.m. CST on Dec. 15, even before the winter solstice. By Christmas Day, the sun sets at 4:37 p.m. You'll really begin to notice those later sunsets the week after  Christmas.

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Winter gets sunnier

We're in the midst of what we call "low stratus season" in Minnesota. November is our cloudiest month of the year on average. The Twin Cities receives just 39 percent of possible sunshine in November.

That ticks up to 42 percent in December, 53 percent in January and nearly 60 percent by February. So, winter in Minnesota actually trends sunnier as we move forward.

Here's the data on the average percent of possible sunshine by month from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

msp sun avg
NOAA via Minnesota DNR Climate Working Group.

So as we move through these darkest days of the year the next two weeks know this: the sun begins to set ever so slightly later starting in just nine days.

Overall daylight begins to grow again in just two weeks. And winter trends sunnier as time goes by.

Optimism.

Forecast: Status quo

What you see is pretty much what you get the next few days. Look for a mix of sun and clouds with occasional snow showers. Classic December. Temperatures hover in the 20s. The mildest days still looks like Sunday and Monday.

12 6 wxb
NOAA via Weather Bell

Snow cover is back

This shot from space shows Minnesota mostly snow covered once again.

Cali fire weather

The scenes from near Ventura, Calif., are scary. Imagine this coming at you.

Smoke plumes are visible from space as they drift hundreds of miles into the Pacific Ocean.

The health impacts of all that smoke reach well beyond the fire zone.

More homes have been torched, still more under threat.

The Santa Ana winds take a breath Wednesday, before picking up again tonight.

12 6 laxWeatherStory1

I'm OK with our cold days and snow-covered ground.