Winter

Winter in the starts in late November and lasts until the 24th of February. Like the other seasons, winter has many unique events and characters, as explained below. Winter follows autumn, and precedes spring.

Events
There are many events that occur in the winter, such as Naughty-or-Nice Day, Toy Day and the New Year's Countdown. Here is a list of the events, what happens in each, in what game and when.


 * Igloos - and
 * Date: All Season
 * Throughout the season, one of the villagers from the player's town may decide to live in an igloo for a day. Players that visit them can chat or play winter games, or in, convince them to move in. If the player spends enough time in the igloo, they may receive one of several exclusive snowy gifts. This event is the winter equivalent to the Summer Tent.


 * Lighthouse Watching -
 * Date: January / February
 * The mayor may ask the player to turn on the lighthouse every night for seven nights (one week) as he leaves for vacation in January or February. If the player turns the light on for seven consecutive days, Tortimer will reward the player with either a lighthouse model or a box of chocolates.


 * Fishing Tourney - and
 * Date: Second Saturday of December, January, and February
 * Chip the fishing ace will set up a stall by the Town Hall or Town Tree, and challenges the villagers of the town to catch the biggest fish, either of any type or a specific type. The competition ends at 6:00 PM, whereupon the winner (top three in ) will receive a trophy. A notice will also be put up on the bulletin board announcing the winner.


 * Fishing Tourney -
 * Date: Third Sunday of December, January and February
 * The version of the Fishing Tourney is much the same as the event previously mentioned, but there are a few notable differences. This event takes place from 12:00 AM till 6:00 PM, and Tortimer is the head of the competition in place of Chip.


 * Midwinter Day - and
 * Date: 21 December
 * Tortimer waits by the Town Hall and gives the player a snowglobe. This event comes with no warning on the bulletin board until the day itself. The 21st is a celebration because it is the day with the shortest sunlight hours in the year. In is it renamed the Winter Solstice and the sky is dark all day.


 * Toy Day -
 * Date: December 23
 * The player can visit the Wishing Well during the day to find and talk to Tortimer, who will then give the player a toy: a dolly if the player is a girl, and a miniature car if the player is a boy.


 * Jingle Comes to Town -, and
 * Date: December 24 (Christmas Eve)
 * After 8:00 PM, Jingle the reindeer will distribute presents to players, but only if he fails to recognize them after the initial prize-giving. To do this, the player must change into different outfits.
 * In City Folk, the player may have to search for him inside empty neighbor houses.
 * In New Leaf, he'll ask the player to distribute presents to villagers instead.


 * New Years Eve -, and
 * Date: December 31st - January 1st
 * Starting at 6:00 AM on December 31st, Tortimer will stand outside in the plaza with a large countdown clock, handing out party poppers when talked to. The clock counts down the seconds till midnight and is adorned with the town's flag and flashing lights. In the final hour before the new year, villagers will talk about their past year, and the music will change several times, building in tension in the last minute with a beep for every second. After midnight, fireworks will go off in the sky and residents will wish the player a happy New Year.


 * La-Di-Day -
 * Date: Second Saturday of January
 * On this day, the player can hear villagers' suggestions for a new town tune. After the tune is sung to the player, they can decide whether or not they want it saved as the town's new melody.


 * Flea Market - and
 * Date: Fourth Sunday of January
 * Players can visit villagers' homes and buy selected items of furniture. Likewise, villagers can visit the player's house and buy items from them, at a price set by the player.


 * Yay Day -
 * Date: Fourth Sunday of January
 * Villagers swap compliments with the player, and may refer to them infrequently after the event.


 * Bright Nights -
 * Date: Second Week of February
 * Villagers decorate their houses with lights, and the player may go to Tortimer to vote each day on the house they like best. The winning villager will be given the title of Bright Star at the end of the week.


 * Valentine's Day -, and
 * Date: February 14th
 * In Animal Crossing, the player will receive letters from various villagers. The more the villager likes the player, the better the gift they are given will be.
 * In City Folk and New Leaf, the player will receive a letter from the villager that they are friendliest with. This villager is always of the opposite gender. The letter contains a box of chocolates, which can be eaten. Brewster will prepare a cup of hot chocolate for the player if they visit The Roost.

Characters

 * Snowmen- Snowmen can be made out of snowballs in the winter. If a snowman is made to the correct proportions, he will reward the Player with a piece of Snowman furniture. Snowmen can be spoken to, and stay around the town for three (four in ) days, melting a bit more every day. There are four kinds of snowman in and each gives different furniture out.
 * Jingle- A reindeer who appears on the 24th of December to distribute presents.
 * Chip- A beaver who holds the Fishing Tourney.
 * Tortimer- The Mayor of the Player's town. He hosts some events.

Fish and Insects
These are the fish and bugs that appear during winter.

Fish

 * Barbel steed
 * Bass (Animal Crossing only)
 * Bitterling
 * Black bass
 * Blowfish (New Leaf only)
 * Bluegill
 * Brook trout (Animal Crossing only)
 * Carp
 * Coelacanth
 * Crucian carp
 * Dab
 * Dace
 * Football fish
 * Freshwater goby
 * Goldfish
 * Herabuna (Doubutsu no Mori only)
 * Horse mackerel
 * Koi
 * Large bass (Animal Crossing only)
 * Lobster (City Folk only)
 * Oarfish (New Leaf only)
 * Octopus ( and City Folk only)
 * Olive flounder
 * Pale chub
 * Pike (City Folk and New Leaf only)
 * Pond smelt
 * Popeyed goldfish
 * Red snapper
 * Sea bass
 * Sea butterfly
 * Small bass (Animal Crossing only)
 * Squid
 * Stringfish
 * Tuna
 * Yellow perch

Bugs

 * Ant
 * Bagworm
 * Bee
 * Centipede (City Folk and New Leaf only)
 * Cockroach (Animal Crossing and only)
 * Dung beetle
 * Fly
 * Mole cricket
 * Pill bug
 * Wharf roach (New Leaf only)

Items
The following items are exclusive to the winter season.

Clothing
In all clothing items have a season and probability group (A, B, or C) associated with them. Each town favors a certain probability group for clothing and this can be manipulated using feng shui. There are 165 clothing items available in winter, of which 29 are exclusive to the season.

Weather
The weather of winter is consists mainly of snowy, cloudy days. Snow may fall as soon as late November, but will not settle until early December. With the settling of the snow, snowballs can be found dotted around the town. These can be rolled up and joined together to make snowmen, as described above. After December, there is less snowy weather.

Other Information
During December, all existing cedar trees will be decorated with flashing lights, which alternate between blue, green and red. Any new cedars planted will lack the lights, and after the first week of the year, all lights will disappear.