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Winter Solstice!

Cloudy and chilly. Those words pretty much sum up the weather picture throughout metro Detroit on Tuesday, this first day of winter.

Tuesday's temperature will only get up to 32 degrees, down to 24 degrees tonight. AccuWeather is predicting a period of light snow and flurries later this afternoon and into this evening. The areas that are expected to have the best shot of a fresh covering to an inch of snow are areas to the west of metro Detroit. Then, it'll be mostly cloudy with flurries tomorrow, the high getting up to just 34. Temperatures will stay in the upper 20s on Thursday, Christmas Eve, Friday and Christmas Day, Saturday.

The area should be dry on Thursday with clouds and some sun and then on Christmas Eve and Christmas, we could see a few flurries that could cause some slick spots; high both days getting up to about 29 degrees.

Stay tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for up-to-date weather forecasts around the clock on the 8s, and any time, day or night, on CBS Detroit.com.

Winter Solstice

Tuesday, Dec. 21st, also marks the winter solstice. It will take place precisely at 6:38 p.m. EST, marking the official start of the astronomical winter and the shortest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere.

The winter solstice occurs precisely at the moment when the Earth's axis is tilted the farthest away from the sun.

After the solstice is when most people across the Northern Hemisphere can look forward to the days gradually getting longer. However, the daily lengthening of sunlight will not become widely noticeable for many until late February or March. But, rest assured: spring is on the horizon!

Copyright, 2010. WWJ Newsradio 950, All Rights Reserved. AccuWeather contributed to this report.

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