What is the setting of "The Raven" (month/weather)?

The time
of year in which Poe's poem "" is set is quite clear, but the narrator's description
of the weather is contradictory. The narrator clearly states that the event occurred in
"the bleak December" and that the time of day was midnight. However, in the beginning
of the poem, the weather seems unremarkable. The weather must have been calm enough for the man,
who was reading by lamplight, to have heard the gentle rapping and faint tapping at his
"chamber door." If a storm had been raging outside, such a slight knocking would have
been imperceptible. In fact, when the man goes to the door, expecting to find a visitor, only
"silence" and "stillness" greet him. He whispers, " ," and the
night is calm enough for him to hear the echo of his whisper. When the knocking comes again, he
thinks it must be the wind, even though when he opened the door...