Which is the coldest: Minor Cold, Great Cold, or Winter Solstice?
Minor Cold is the coldest.
According to decades of meteorological records, Minor Cold typically marks the year's lowest temperatures, with only a few years seeing colder temperatures during Great Cold. Upon the Winter Solstice, the "nine-nine cold days" begin, with the "third nine" being the harshest period—always falling within the Minor Cold solar term.Folk wisdom often states "Xiao Han is colder than Da Han." For many regions in China, the winter solstice merely marks the beginning of the cold season, not the absolute lowest temperatures. The true biting cold arrives during Xiao Han and Da Han after the solstice, confirming Xiao Han as the coldest solar term.
Why are Xiao Han and Da Han the coldest?
>During Xiao Han and Da Han, although daylight hours begin to lengthen, the heat radiated by the sun to the ground still falls short of the heat lost from the earth. Consequently, temperatures continue to drop. Compounded by cold fronts sweeping southward from Siberia, temperatures plunge significantly. The proverb "Xiao Han and Da Han freeze old men to death" aptly illustrates the extreme cold experienced during these two solar terms.
When is the coldest time in southern China?
For most southern regions, late January marks the peak cold, coinciding with the Greater Cold solar term, making it colder than the Minor Cold.
However, northern China experiences its coldest period annually around mid-January, specifically from January 10th to 20th. Since the Minor Cold solar term falls around January 5th to 20th, northern regions often find the Minor Cold colder than the Greater Cold.Additionally, the coldest days are counted as the "nine cold periods," with the "third nine" being the coldest. This means the year's coldest days fall during the third nine-day period, counted from the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice marks the start of the nine-day counting, lasting 18 days until the third nine. The Minor Cold period is 15 days after the Winter Solstice, and the third nine falls precisely within the Minor Cold period. This is why the Minor Cold period is often considered the coldest time.
When is the coldest time this year?
The Winter Solstice marks the imminent arrival of the cold season. Farmers begin counting the "Nine Nine" periods to track the cold days. Each year, the Nine Nine counting starts from the Winter Solstice. Every nine days is counted as one "nine," and this period is the coldest time of the year, hence it is also called the "Nine Nine Cold Days."
Within the Nine-Nine period, the coldest days fall during the Third Nine and Fourth Nine. The proverb "The hottest days are in the Three Fives, the coldest in the Three Nines" means the year's most frigid days occur during the Third Nine. This year, the coldest period will be from January 8 to January 16, 2021.
Will it still be cold after Dahan?
Temperatures will remain low after Dahan.
Dahan is the twenty-fourth solar term and the final one of winter. At this time, temperatures reach their annual low. Northern regions often present a scene of "thousands of miles frozen over, ten thousand miles covered in snow," while southern areas also experience their coldest period of the year.
Warmth will only begin to return after the Start of Spring solar term. As the third solar term of spring, it follows the Beginning of Spring and just after the Rain Water solar term. Southern regions will already experience spring weather with "grass growing and orioles flying." Fifteen days later, the Spring Equinox solar term marks the midpoint of spring, bringing gradually warmer and gentler weather that will transition into summer.