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Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. North American calendars go by astronomy and state that winter begins on the winter solstice and ends on the vernal equinox. more...

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Calculated meteorologically, it begins and ends earlier (typically at the start of the month with the equinox or solstice) and is the season with the shortest days and the lowest temperatures. Either way, it generally has cold weather and, especially in the higher latitudes or altitudes, snow and ice. The coldest average temperatures of the season are typically experienced in January in the Northern Hemisphere and in July in the Southern Hemisphere.

Aspects

Meteorology

Meteorological winter is the season having the shortest days and the lowest temperatures. Night-time predominates the winter season, and in some regions it has the highest rate of precipitation as well as prolonged dampness because of permanent snow cover or high precipitation rates coupled with low temperatures, precluding evaporation. Blizzards often develop and cause many transportation delays. A rare meteorological phenomenon encountered during winter is ice fog, which is composed of ice crystals suspended in the air and happening only at very low temperatures, below about −30 °C .

Period

It is often said that, astronomically, winter starts with the winter solstice and ends with the vernal equinox. In meteorology, it is by convention counted instead as the whole months of June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere and December, January and February in the Northern Hemisphere. While in actuality, the most accurate start and end point is simply defined by when the first major wave of cold fronts and warm fronts hit a particular area, having no universally predetermined dates.

In Celtic nations such as Ireland using the Irish calendar, the winter solstice is traditionally considered as midwinter, with the winter season beginning November 1 on All Hallows or Samhain. Winter ends and spring begins on Imbolc or Candlemas, which is February 1 or February 2. This system of seasons is based on the length of days exclusively. The three-month period of the shortest days and weakest solar radiation occurs during November, December and January in the Northern Hemisphere and May-July in the Southern Hemisphere.

Also many mainland European countries tend to recognize Martinmas, St. Martin's day (November 11) as the first calendar day of winter. The day falls at midpoint between the old Julian equinox and solstice dates. Also, Valentines Day (February 14) is recognized by some countries as heralding the first rites of Spring (season), such as flower blooming.

Read more at Wikipedia.org