Winter officially arrives, snow in forecast for GTA

TORONTO, Ont. – It could be a slippery drive in parts of southern Ontario, as winter officially arrived at 6:12 a.m. Friday, bringing with it possibly up to five centimetres of snow to the GTA.

According to the forecast, the rain-snow mix will change to snow Friday afternoon into the evening, with a high of 4 C and a windchill near -13.

This is also the time for the Winter Solstice, which generally marks the shortest day of the year, occurs in the Northern Hemisphere when the sun reaches its most southerly declination.

Sunrise is estimated for 7:48 a.m., while the sun is expected to set as early as 4:44 p.m.

The winter solstice tends to occur on Dec. 21 or Dec. 22 each year, with it rarely occurring on Dec. 20 or 23.

In fact, the last time a Dec. 23 solstice happened was in 1903, and it is not expected to happen again until 2303.

In the past the Winter Solstice played an important role for many ancient cultures, and various traditions are still observed surrounding the date.

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