Welcome, Winter!

Winter officially begins Wednesday night, not that the weather feels like December.

Winter solstice is at 9:30 p.m. That makes Wednesday the shortest day of the year and the longest night.

It's the turning point, astronomically speaking, and has been observed by cultures for centuries. From here, days get longer and summer is on its way.

Of course, no one on the Central Coast suffering from a lack of sunshine these days. Rain has been nearly absent this fall and sunny skies are in the forecast for Santa Cruz County until the first week of January.

The region is behind its average rainfall totals.

Watsonville got 1.87 inches of rain in October and 2.10 inches in November, according to the National Weather Service. December had one drizzly day and some fog, but no substantial rain. Santa Cruz had a couple drops more—2.63 and 2.54 inches, respectively, in October and November.

That's OK, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac, the stormiest periods this winter should have been in early- to mid-November. Mid-January should be when Northern California gets most of its precipitation. Expect above-average rain in January, March and April.

By the way, the almanac also predicted this part of December would be the coldest of the winter.