Yes, but it might not feel like it has - Austin has had an unusually hot and dry start to fall. Meteorologically speaking, fall is the months of September, October and November, yet September in Austin this year already has an average temperature of 83.5 degrees, which is about 1.5 degrees warmer than normal. More: Farewell flip-flops, hello pumpkin spice: The autumnal equinox is Wednesdayįor ancient societies, the autumnal equinox marked the end of summer and the vernal (or spring) equinox marked the end of winter, which helped people track time-sensitive activity, such as when to plant crops. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the changing colors of the leaves on deciduous trees is actually triggered by the shorter days with reduced amounts of daylight. Each of those instances is an equinox, which is derived from the Latin words for equal (aequus) and night (nox).īut after the autumnal equinox, the northern hemisphere of the Earth begins to tilt away from the sun, so nights will get longer and days will grow shorter until the winter solstice, which will be on Dec. But twice in the course of that yearlong trip around the sun, the Earth is not inclined toward or away from the sun. The Earth spins on a tilted axis, which means that as the planet orbits the sun, it is leaning toward or away from the sun - thus, giving us seasons. Clouds notwithstanding, Austin will get about 12 hours and 8 minutes of daylight. Thursday for those living in the Central time zone. Before we break out the pumpkin carving tools or go thrift shopping for Halloween costumes, here are five things to know about this annual astronomical event: 1. What is the autumnal equinox?ĭuring the autumnal equinox, the sun shines directly on the equator, and the northern and southern hemispheres get the same amount of rays. The alignment officially occurs this year at 8:03 p.m. For traditionalists who still use the sun to tell time, fall finally arrives Thursday with the autumnal equinox.

Winter equinox 2020