Fall has arrived, even though temperatures say otherwise

Fall officially begins at 7:43 AM Sunday, September 22, 2024. But you wouldn’t think so considering the high temperature the day before reached a very unseasonable 84 degrees.

The Autumn equinox brings fall to the northern hemisphere and spring to the southern. The term equinox is a Latin term meaning equal night, which in a simplified manner, is what happens Sunday with the sun directly over the equator. We will see 12 hours of sun above the horizon and 12 hours of sun below.

However, this event is measured from the center of the sun, so in reality, a part of the sun will be above the horizon in the morning and night, giving us about seven extra minutes of sun.

It isn’t until September 24th where the times the sun is visible above the horizon match the time below. It’s at that point that we start to have less day than night until the Spring Equinox in March of next year.

Though the sun appears to be moving south in the sky as summer and fall progress, its actually the earth changing its tilt, or wobbling on its axis that makes it appear that the sun is moving rather than us.