PHOENIX — Wednesday night will be the longest night of the year in Arizona. That's because Dec. 21 is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere.
It also marks the beginning of winter, which officially began at 2:48 p.m. Arizona time on Wednesday.
Since the summer solstice back on June 21, days have been gradually getting shorter and shorter. The opposite will be true after Wednesday, with each day being longer than the previous day.
The winter solstice marks the moment the path of the sun is the farthest south in the northern hemisphere, meaning the sun travels the shortest path across the sky.
In Phoenix, Wednesday's sunlight lasted 9 hours and 56 minutes, compared to 3 hours and 42 minutes in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The winter solstice happens each year, usually on Dec. 21 or 22.
The Farmers' Almanac says the word solstice comes from the Latin words sol, which means sun, and sistere, which means to stand still.
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How big is Maricopa County?:
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
