There was snow prior to Thanksgiving, previews of coming attractions with an early touch of winter. December usually begins our winter season of 100 inches of average snow fall in Utica. These amounts can vary considerably within a few miles of Utica, with the North Country and southern hills generally receiving more snow than the Mohawk Valley.
The darkness of early sunset before 5 P.M. and colder days is offset by the many private, commercial and public displays of what were called Christmas lights. Restaurants, commercial business, and public facilities are decorated with lights, greenery and trees. Many employers sponsor special holiday parties for employees.
The winter solstice is the changing point, the longest night and shortest hour of daylight hours of the year. Sunset gradually comes earlier as daylight lengthens though this is not too noticeable until mid-January.
Holidays and Celebrations during December 2025
December 6 St. Nicholas Day
December 7 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day; 2nd Sunday of Advent
December 10 Human Rights Day and Human Refugee Day
December 14 First Day of Chanukah begins at Sundown
December 15 Bill of Rights Day
December 17 Wright Brothers’ Day
December 21 Winter Solstice; Forefathers Day
December 24 Christmas Eve
December 25 Christmas Day
December 26 Boxing Day in Canada; First Day of Kwanza
December 31 New Year’s Eve
The Christian religious holiday of Christmas dominates the month of December, often called the the holiday season starting just prior to Thanksgiving until 12th Night or the Epiphany of January 12. Chanuka and Kwanza are weeklong festivals widely celebrated by Jews and African Americans in December as well.
Christmas concerts and special pageants are held in many Christian churches, as well as seasonal concerts at schools, the Utica Maennerchor, Munson, and other places. The Stanly Theater, as well as Clinton and Syracuse have live performances of the Nutcracker Ballet by Tchaikovsky. Some of these events are free or have a nominal charge. The season generally comes to end with the downtown New Year’s Eve celebration on December 31s sponsored largely by the Bank of Utica.
Winter sports season is in full swing with ice hockey of the Utica University Pioneers, the AHL Utica Comets, and many regional secondary and college hockey teams. This competes with Syracuse Orange and other high school and college basketball. And of course, college and professional football is still going strong.
As winter sets in, be prepared to get outside and exercise if able with a wide variety of winter sports from skiing to snow shoeing, tobogganing or sledding, many of these at the Val Bialis ski lift in the hills near the Utica Zoo and Forest Hill Cemetery. In the North Country especially, snow mobiles and skiing resorts, as well as cross-country skiing are an important part of the winter economy. An outdoor walk at the usually paved Proctor Park or Rayhill Trails are both reasonable outdoor options. While many folks mostly stay in for the winter as much as possible, some sort of outside exercise on a nice winter’s day can be invigorating.
In the Night Skies
Saturn is high in the sky the first half of the month, setting about midnight after mid-month. The Moon has close encounter with Jupiter below it on the 6th and above it on the 7t.h The Geminid Meteor Shower, with up to 75 meteors per hour in dark rural skies will not be dimmed by the waning Crescent Moon rising about 1 A.M. Jupiter is at its brightest, as it comes its closest to Earth in January. The winter solstice on December 21 at 10:03 A.M. marks the beginning of winter.
Rising and Setting Times for Sun, Moon, and Planets on Winter Solstice, December 21, 2025
Sunrise 7:29 A.M.
Moonrise, Waxing Crescent Moon Rises 9:06 A.M., E Moonset. 5:46 P.M., W
Mercury Rises 6:10 A.M, SE
Venus Rises 7:13 A.M., SE
Mars Sets 4:44 P.M., SW
Jupiter Rises 6:04 P.M., NE
Saturn Sets 11:34 P.M., W
Moon Phases for December 2025
December 4 Full Cold Moon Rises. 3:48 P.M., NE Sets 7:08 A.M., NW
December 11 Last Quarter Moon Rises (Yesterday) Sets.12:10 P.M., W
December 13-14 Geminids Meteor Shower, up to 75 meteors an hour; best seen prior to 1 A.M.
December 19 New Moon Rises 7:30 A.M., SE Sets 3:47 P.M., SW
December 27 First Quarter Moon Rises 11:36 A.M., E Sets next day
