The end of summer as we know it. The fall equinox is here

Where did summer go? Can you believe summer is coming to an end? The fall equinox is this weekend early on Sunday Sept 22 at 5:43 a.m. The fall equinox is also known as the autumnal equinox, and the following day is the first full day of fall.

Both 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.

Western Washington is losing about three and half minutes per day of daylight right now – the greatest loss of daylight in the year. The in days around the fall equinox, sunrise and sunset will both be around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. for about 12 hours of daylight. In contrast back in late June, there was close to 16 hours of daylight.

Buehner: La Niña set to return this winter

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 around the solstice.

Our planet tilts about 23 and a half degrees off its axis. As Earth makes it annual rotation around the sun each year, for six months the North Pole is tilted toward the sun for our 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 active weather like 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 your pets and livestock. Visit ready.gov or redcross.org and their preparedness page for helpful information. Remember, prepare because you care.

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted’s stories here and follow him on X.