Mother Nature is making sure our winter season starts off on a low, well temperature-wise.

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The Winter Solstice

The shortest day of the year is December 21st, it is also the day that winter officially starts.  While winter temperatures have been around for a couple of weeks, it's about to get a whole lot chillier.  We'll get to that in just a bit.  First, what is the winter solstice and why is it the shortest day of the year?

According to Almanac.com, the winter solstice is the start to the astronomical winter, as opposed to the meteorological winter which started a few weeks ago.  It's also the shortest day of the year, why is that?  Almanac.com explains:

On the day of the winter solstice, we are tilted as far away from the Sun as possible, which means that the Sun’s path across the sky is as low in the sky as it can be. Think about the daily path of the Sun: It rises in the east and sets in the west, arcing across the sky overhead. During the summer, the Sun arcs high in the sky, but during the winter, it arcs lower, closer to the horizon.

Bitter Cold is on the Way

The National Weather Service of Paducah shared on Facebook that our area can expect "bitter cold" for the end of this week. Here is what their Facebook post says:

All aboard the polar express! We will get a free arctic vacation later this week as temperatures plummet to frigid levels Thursday night through Christmas Eve. Accumulating snow appears likely to accompany the transition Thursday into Thursday night. For those with travel plans during this period, continue to monitor for updates as we get closer!

The National Weather Service then shared some details saying:

High temperatures are forecast to remain in the teens on Friday and Christmas Eve.  Lows are forecast to fall near zero on Friday and Saturday morning.  Temperatures may be even colder if a decent snowpack is in place.

The National Weather Service says that this magnitude of cold hasn't been observed in the month of December since at least 2004.

I don't know about you, but you can catch me hiding under my heated blanket and not moving until those temps come up!