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Clouds hamper annual winter solstice walk in Murrysville | TribLIVE.com
Murrysville Star

Clouds hamper annual winter solstice walk in Murrysville

Patrick Varine
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Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
Connor Painter, 9, of Murrysville looks through a viewing window in a nature blind at the Westmoreland Conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.
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Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
Ashley Shaner of Delmont and her sons, from the left, Oliver, 8, Sebastian, 4, and Archer, 2, watch the winter solstice sunset at the conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.
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Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
Westmoreland Conservancy President Shelly Tichy leads participants on a winter solstice walk at the conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. It was the shortest day of the year.
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Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
Karen Rose Cercone of Trafford reads a winter solstice poem at the conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.
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Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
Participants in the Westmoreland Conservancy’s winter solstice walk head walk through a wild field of native plants at the conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.
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Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
Westmoreland Conservancy President Shelly Tichy leads participants on a winter solstice walk at the conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. It was the shortest day of the year.
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Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
Ashley Shaner of Delmont and her sons, from the left, Sebastian, 4, Oliver, 8, and Archer, 2, watch the winter solstice sunset at the conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.

Westmoreland Conservancy officials got decent weather but unfortunate cloud cover for their annual winter solstice walk on Thursday evening.

The shortest day of the year saw the sun setting at 4:57 p.m.

About 16 participants were hoping to see it in spectacular fashion from an observation deck built by a local Eagle Scout at the conservancy’s Morosini Nature Reserve in Murrysville.

But with heavy cloud cover, just a sliver of sunset was visible at the horizon.

Friday marks the official start of winter, and daylight will continue to last a little longer each day until the summer solstice on June 20 .

Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.

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Categories: Local | Murrysville Star | Westmoreland
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