September 22, 2024, marks the start of the Fall Season. It is often thought of as equal daylight and darkness, but not exactly. We will look into that below. But at 8:43 AM, the sun’s direct rays shined on the equator. For the next six months, the focus will shift to the Southern Hemisphere.
Other questions that have come up and might be discussed in science classes:
Is gravity ‘more equal’?
Can you stand an egg on end?
Here is a look at everything I felt relevant for fellow science geeks to eat up and teachers to share with their students. This includes a few videos as well.
This begins the time of year for us, with longer nights, falling leaves, sweater weather eventually, and FITF (Faith in the Fakes).
There are a few ways of looking at this day. It has been celebrated around the world from harvest time to ancient pyramid shadow alignments.
I give a similar answer for the reasons behind the name Nor’Easter: A coastal storm that:
Sometimes, more than one answer fits.
Meteorological Autumn began on back September 1, since we keep records in complete months. But now we can truly say the new season has begun. The full season for weather records are the months of September, October, and November.
The reason we have seasons and weather is because of the tilt of Earth. This tilt, in relation to the orbit around the sun, allows the direct rays to shift between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres throughout the year.
Between the Autumnal Equinox (Sep 22) and Winter Solstice (Dec 21):
Daylight loss (in Baltimore): 2 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds.
Over the next 3 months, the peak sun (solar noon) will drop 23.6º in the Baltimore sky.
As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, the average temperature begins a drop of about one degree every two days for the rest of this month. We are losing an average of 2 minutes and 33 seconds of daylight every day now. By the end of the month, the sunrise will be 10 minutes later, and sunset will be 18 minutes earlier.
The word equinox sounds a lot like ‘equal’, and that is how it is often introduced in an Earth Science class.
I was originally taught that it was the day when the entire planet had equal daylight and darkness. However, that is not entirely true.
Fast forward three days to September 25
Light bends around the atmosphere. This image shows the sunrise as seen from the International Space Station. The glow of light appearing above the sun shows how light bends around our atmosphere before you see the actual sun.
Think about the red and orange sky in the morning and evening. That is a demonstration of how light bends in our atmosphere, especially at dawn and dusk. The view of the sun itself is also seen as the light bends around the horizon.
So while the sun itself should be visible for 12 hours today (splitting the time with darkness), the light of the sunlight bends in the atmosphere and gives us an extra few minutes of daylight on each end of equinox day.
Sep 22 Normal High = 76ºF
If you were to compare that to the Vernal (other) Equinox…
March 21 Normal High = 51ºF.
That is a big difference despite the same sun angle. This is due to seasonal temperature lags.
On any given day, the sun is highest in the sky between noon and 1 p.m., but the hottest daily high is between 3 and 5 p.m.
Our strongest solar rays are on June 21, but the hottest temperatures are weeks later, in the middle of July.
In short, there is a delayed response of warming, but also cooling. Since the ground and nearby water are still warm from summer, that residual heat helps delay our cooling. The upcoming longer nights will change that quickly.
Over the next 30 days, we will lose 10 degrees and expect a high of 65ºF by the third week of October.
Then, the cooling rate slows down a little and averages out to one degree cooler every three days.
Stand An Egg On End?
Some teachers in my High School tried to convince the class that the equal force of the sun’s gravitational pull on the equator would allow an egg to stand on its end during an equinox. Simply put, that is not true! I continue to see this demonstration in autumn and spring.
I actually tried this many years ago at WBNG-TV in Binghamton. Since I could not duplicate it, I used double-sided scotch tape to keep the egg upright during the broadcast.
The truth: If you have the right egg and a flat spot to sit it on… just add patience and a steady hand will do the balancing any day of the year. I’m not the only one to debunk this. Check out this old video I found online showing a similar demonstration.
Technically, the Equinox marks when the sun will set on the north pole to begin six months of darkness. For about a month, it will look more like twilight. On the flip side, the sun will rise on the south pole.
September Begins Meteorological Autumn: Climate Data/Weather Stats For The Month
Severe Weather: Storm Smart October and next spring
Winter Weather FITF (Faith in the Flakes): November To March
Click to see more and send a request for your school.
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I am aware there are some spelling and grammar typos and occasional other glitches. I take responsibility for my mistakes and even the computer glitches I may miss. I have made a few public statements over the years, but if you are new here, you may have missed it: I have dyslexia and found out during my second year at Cornell University. It didn’t stop me from getting my meteorology degree and being the first to get the AMS CBM in the Baltimore/Washington region.
One of my professors told me that I had made it that far without knowing and to not let it be a crutch going forward. That was Mark Wysocki, and he was absolutely correct! I do miss my mistakes in my own proofreading. The autocorrect spell check on my computer sometimes does an injustice to make it worse. I also can make mistakes in forecasting. No one is perfect at predicting the future. All of the maps and information are accurate. The ‘wordy’ stuff can get sticky.
There has been no editor who can check my work while writing and to have it ready to send out in a newsworthy timeline. Barbara Werner is a member of the web team that helps me maintain this site. She has taken it upon herself to edit typos when she is available. That could be AFTER you read this. I accept this and perhaps proves what you read is really from me… It’s part of my charm. #FITF
