Dwindling Daylight Marks Summer's Final Month

Today marks eight weeks since the Summer Solstice, and the Autumnal Equinox is just a little more than one month away. Summer officially began on Wednesday, June 20, while Fall starts in the Northern Hemisphere on Saturday, September 22 at 10:49 a.m. EDT. Where has the time gone?

I'm sure you’ve noticed by now that our days are getting shorter. In fact, sunset happens at 7:51 this evening, 39 minutes earlier than the first day of Summer. The sun appears at 6:03 tomorrow morning, 44 minutes later than the 5:19 sunrise of June 20. That means we’ve lost nearly an hour-and-a half (83 minutes) of daylight over the last eight weeks. And, daylight will continue to dwindle.

By the end of August, the sun rises at 6:18 and sets at 7:27, meaning that over an hour of daylight will have been lost in the evening alone since the first day of Summer. Just over one month from now, on the Autumnal Equinox, the sunrise is at 6:38 a.m. and sunset is at 6:53 p.m. The loss of daylight accelerates through the three months of Autumn.

The average temperature this month is 78.2 degrees, which is just about four degrees (+3.9) above normal. It's looking more and more as though this will be the 18th straight warmer-than-normal month across southwestern Connecticut. All but two of the first 14 days this month have been warmer-than-normal, with the highest temperature of 91 degrees on August 3. Just one day --- August 7 --- featured an average temperature below normal (-1.0).

Nearly a quarter-inch (0.20") of rain fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford this morning, bringing the monthly total to just under three inches (2.79"). Today is the sixth day with measured rain this month, with the heaviest rainfall (1.75") occurring August 10. More showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and late Friday into Saturday should bring the August rain total over three inches.

Paul