Dec

22

Winter solstice arrives with nary a squeek

December 22, 2007 | Tags: Environment | Leave a Comment

Solstice Lantern Triptych - Winter Solstice Lantern Festival, Vancouver
Lanterns from the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival, Vancouver, BC.
Photos by Steena.

I’m currently celebrating the holidays in Vancouver, Canada. Dec 21st is celebrated here not as the official beginning of winter but as the Winter Solstice, the shortest day/longest night of the year which means the days just get longer and the sun starts to return from here on out!

Costa Ricans don’t pay much attention to the solstice, nor to the official start of winter as we learned it in school up north; not surprising really as the difference between the longest and shortest day in Costa Rica is minimal, although actually more than I expected:

Date Sunrise Sunset Length of day
Dec 21, 2007 5:48 AM 5:21 PM 11h 32m 35s
Jun 21, 2008 5:17 AM 5:59 PM 12h 42m 30s

A difference of over an hour (these times are for San Jose) but compare that to Vancouver where the shortest day is 8h 11m long and the longest 16h 14m, almost double.

Costa Ricans instead of celebrating the seasonal changes on Apr 21st, June 21st, Sept 21st and Dec 21st, have only two seasons: Winter (known in tourist brochure venacular as the “Green season”) from May to November when it’s wetter and Summer from December to April when it’s dryer. Of course, as those of us in the Caribbean know well, even this distinction is rather moot in our area, where the rain and dry pretty much alternate year round. Although if you check the Puerto Viejo Weather page, you’ll note that September and October are actually our dryest months.

I look for my personal summer to return Jan 8 when I return to Puerto Viejo.

Happy Holidays all from Puerto Viejo Satellite and The Talamanca News!