Miami losing daylight at equinox. When does fall start? How early will it get dark?
The autumn equinox is almost here. In Florida, that doesn’t mean cooler weather is suddenly coming. But it does mean days will turn to night earlier.
This year’s autumn equinox lands on Sept. 23, marking the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere, according to NASA.
READ MORE: When do we turn back the clock? What about keeping Florida on daylight saving time?
Here’s what you can expect in Miami and the rest of Florida:
What is the autumn equinox?
The autumn equinox signals the first day of fall. During an equinox, the sun will shine right over the equator, resulting in “equal amounts of day and night throughout the world,” according to NASA.
Equinoxes, or instances in which the sun shines directly over the equator and produces near-equal amounts of day and night throughout most of the world, occur twice in the year, usually in March (spring) or September (fall or autumn). Solstices, meanwhile, occur when the sun appears to reach its most northern or southern positions relative to the equator, resulting in an unusually long day (in June) or night (in December).
For those in the Northern Hemisphere, the aptly named autumnal equinox signals the first day of fall. Due to Earth’s tilted axis and orbit around the sun, the Northern Hemisphere will gradually receive less and less sunlight as fall leads into winter.
Equinoxes and solstices mark holidays for countless cultures across the globe. For example, the autumnal equinox often neighbors key Jewish holidays like Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, while the Korean harvest festival Chuseok traditionally falls in the middle or end of September, National Geographic writes.
When will the sun set on Sept. 23?
The sun will set at 7:16 p.m. in Miami on Sept. 23, according to Time and Date, an online world clock.
How much sunlight will we lose?
As fall continues past the equinox, the days will progressively get shorter until the winter equinox on Dec. 21. That marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, according to the National Weather Service.
Miami will lose roughly a minute of sunlight each day in September.
By Sept. 30, the sun will set at 7:09 p.m. in the Magic City. And it will get darker in October, according to Time and Date, with the sun setting at 6:40 p.m. on Halloween.
Then comes the end of daylight saving time on Nov. 5. After we turn back the clocks an hour, sunset in Miami will be 5:37 p.m.