EVERETT, SEPT. 20: Can you believe summer is coming to an end? The fall equinox is early at 5:43 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22. The fall equinox is also known as the autumnal equinox, and the following day, Sept. 23, is the first full day of fall.
The spring and fall equinoxes are the only two moments each year when the sun lies directly above Earth’s equator. The equinox is also when the length of day and night are about the same.
The North Sound is losing about three and a half minutes per day of daylight right now – the greatest loss of daylight in the year. Sunrise and sunset will be around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. in just a few days, for about 12 hours of daylight. Back in late June, there was close to 16 hours of daylight.
That decreasing daylight momentum will gradually slow as we get closer to the winter solstice in the latter part of December, bottoming out at about 8 hours and 20 minutes of daylight around the winter solstice.
Our planet tilts about 23 and a half degrees off its axis. As Earth makes its annual rotation around the sun, for half the year the North Pole is tilted toward the sun for spring and summer. For the other six months, it is the South Pole that is tilted toward the Sun, resulting in our fall and winter seasons.
With La Niña slated to return as the seasons roll into fall and winter, are you ready for heavy rains with flooding and landslides, strong damaging winds, and snow and ice? Now is the time to prepare your home, business, car and even animals. Visit ready.gov or redcross.org and their preparedness page for helpful information. Remember, prepare because you care.
