Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

MACON, Georgia. (41NBC/WMGT) – Who is ready to say goodbye to summer? At 10:21 a.m. ET the autumnal equinox will occur. The autumnal equinox signifies a change in seasons, from summer to fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere will welcome the beginning of spring. As the Earth spins around the sun in 365 days, rotating on a 23.5 degree axis, there will be different seasons due to a certain hemisphere’s tilt towards/away from the sun.

An equinox occurs when the sun is shining directly over the equator, giving almost 12 hours of sunlight on that day. “Equinox” is derived from Latin, meaning “equal night.” With a sunrise time of 7:23 a.m. and a sunset time of 7:31 p.m., we will see roughly 12 hours of sunlight today. As December approaches, the Northern Hemisphere will tilt further away from the sun. The sun is rising later now, and the moon rise is getting earlier. Ultimately, our days are becoming shorter due to less sunlight. A decrease in direct sunlight will result in cooler conditions.

However, for those of you eager for the arrival of cooler weather, it looks like you may be waiting a while. According to the latest Climate Prediction Center (CPC) outlook for the month of October, there is a 40% chance that the state of Georgia will have temperatures running higher than normal. The average high temperature in the month of October for Georgia is 77 degrees. As drought conditions are worsening in the Peach state, the fall season doesn’t look like it will bring us the rain we need. The CPC predicts a 33% chance that rainfall totals will be below average across middle Georgia. Typically Georgia receives just over 2.75 inches of rainfall in October.

Overall, even though the season is changing, summer isn’t ready to leave just yet. Temperatures are trending above average, with little rainfall predicted across the southeast.