if the shortest day is in november, why are january and february the coldest months?

Answer 1

the cold takes time to sink into the earth.

The time lag comes from the inertia of the temperatures

Answer 2

I believe the shortest day (the Winter Solstice) is December 21st.
The Earth absorbs the heat from the Sun during the hot months. This heat is then gradually released from the ground as the year progresses. So although the shortest day is in December there is still some residual heat in the ground which eventually all gets released around January, so that is in fact the coldest time of the year (well, in my part of the world at least).

Hope that explains it.

Answer 3

The shortest day is not in November, it is in December. The winter solstice, around December 21 or 22. However, the coldest months come later because of heat stored in the earth, so the temperature lags the solar energy input by one or two months. The same is true in summer, the summer solstice is on June 21 - 22, but the hottest months are July and August (in the northern hemisphere).

Note: the earth is closer to the sun in the northern hemisphere winter than in the summer. This means seasonal weather extremes are less severe in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere.

Answer 4

OK, this one takes a bit of explaining, but bear with me. The best way to visualise heat flow is like water flow (the equations are much the same anyway).
Imagine a big tank of water. A high level in the tank represents "hot", a low level is "cold". There is a hose feeding the tank, representing the incoming energy from the sun, and a leak at the bottom that represents the general loss of energy from any system - radiation out into space ultimately.

Now, during the year, the sun "hose" varies in strength, running full bore in the Northern Hemisphere around June 21 and slowing to its lowest on December 21. As the slow flow is approached, you reach a point where the rate of inflow is exceeded by the leak - you're losing water (or heat). This occurs some time before the slowest inflow point, so by the time you get to that point, you've been losing water (or heat) for some time. Now, after the low-point (Winter Solstice), your inflow hose begins to pick up again, but, importantly, you are still losing, just not quite as fast.
Your tank level won't begin to rise again until your inflow rate overtakes the leak rate.
So the lowest level of water in the tank (or heat in the system) lags quite some time behind the date of lowest input.

Answer 5

The shortest day is actually in December, and the reason It is coldest in January and February is because that is when the earth is the farthest away from the sun.

Answer 6

It's called a thermal time lag

If you switch your oven on to 240 degrees, the flame is 240 degrees at the moment you switch it on, but the oven takes w hile to heat up. Same with the earth. The sun is closest to the earth on June 21st, longest day of the year, BUT due to thermal time lag, it won't be hottest for a month or two. And while the shortest day of the year is December 21st, February is usually the coldest month

Answer 7

The temperature is actually not so much to do with how long the sun is on the land (it's sunny 24 hrs a day for 6 months in Antarctica but still really cold). It has to do with the angle at which the sunlight hits the land.

In the hotter parts of the year, at the middle of the day the sun appears to be high in the sky and shining vertically down, so its rays are concentrated on the one place. In the colder months it never gets as high in the sky, so the rays are spread out over a wider area and therefore not as powerful.

This is really hard to explain without the use of a diagram. I was fascinated when I found out though!

Answer 8

The shortest day over there should be 20th-21st December and the longest day should be around 20-21 June. I know this because I live in Australia and it is the opposite to America My birthday is always on the shortest day of the year in Australia

Answer 9

The shortest day is in December (Dec.21st) and it has nothing to do with temperature. The middle of the winter is in January, and that's when it should be the coldest.

Answer 10

the winter solstice in Australia is June 21 the shortest day of the year

the longest day is December 21 here December,January,February are the hottest months
the distance from the equator will cause differences
http://www.etravelblackboard.com/index.asp?id=37687&nav=21
come and get a sun tan

Answer 11

the season's change do to the earth's rotation around the sun. the shortest day is in december 21 and it is not related to the seasons it is realted to the earth's axis the tilt. thw middle of winter is january so it is the coldest month of the year