Show As days grow longer cold grows stronger according to an old proverb As the days grow longer the cold grows stronger after december 21 the days lengthen and the sun which has been seen farthest south appears farther north each day there are several reasons why our coldest weather usually comes after this the ground continues for many weeks to give out more heat than it receives from the sun As snow increases in depth on the earths surface it becomes colder at the surface and cools off the air the far north during its long winter night receiving no heat directly from the sun cools off the air above it and this accumulated cold air overflows into more southerly regions A few bev days after december 21 or to be more exact on january 2 the earth receives the most heat from the sun for we are then nearest to it only miles away as compared to miles in july the northern hemisphere does not however get the full advantage of this greater intensity of the sun in january for winter days are short an and d the suns rays slant greatly when there is snow on the ground the sunshine we do ge get t is largely lost by reflection and the heat that is absorbed is used up in melting and evaporating the snow |