How many days until winter?
90 days
Winter begins at the December solstice, Monday, December 21, 2026 at 3:49 PM Eastern Time. Counted from today, Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
- Begins
- Monday
- Ends
- Friday, March 19
- Season length
- 89 days
- Meteorological start
- December 1
Astronomical — the solstices and equinoxes
Tied to the Earth's tilt, so the date shifts a day or two each year. This is the definition almanacs and calendars use.
Meteorological — whole calendar months
Fixed every year, so climate records can be compared like for like. This is the definition weather services use, and it is 20 days earlier.
Why the seasons are not equal
The four seasons from here
| Season | Begins | Length | Days away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | September 22, 2026 | 90 days | 0 |
| Winter | December 21, 2026 | 89 days | 90 |
| Spring | March 20, 2027 | 93 days | 179 |
| Summer | June 21, 2027 | 94 days | 272 |
About winter
Astronomical winter runs from Monday, December 21, 2026 to Friday, March 19, 2027, which is 89 days. The seasons are not equal lengths: the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse and it moves slowest near aphelion in early July, so it spends several days longer covering the half of its orbit between the March and September equinoxes. Northern spring and summer are the long ones.
Meteorological winter starts on December 1 and always covers three whole months. Weather services use it because a season of fixed length can be compared year to year; almanacs and calendars use the astronomical one. Neither is wrong — they answer different questions, which is why “the first day of winter” has two defensible answers.