Meteorological Autumn
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For astronomers, autumn begins in three weeks at 11:03 p.m. Friday, September 22. That’s the instant the sun’s most direct rays fall on the equator—the so called autumnal equinox. From that point forward through winter, these direct rays will shift into the southern hemisphere allowing colder air to accumulate over sections of the northern hemisphere.
But, for meteorologists and climatologists, Sept. 1 appears a more natural demarcation between the summer and autumn seasons. From today (Sept. 1) through the coming three months, normal daily highs will decline from 78° to 40.
Meteorological summer 2006 closed at midnight, finishing 1.5° above normal—the 35th warmest summer of the past 136. The area received just 61% of its possible sun as a result of more than usual summer cloudiness—the most of any summer in 9 years. 67% is considered normal.
-Tom Skilling WGN-TV Meteorologist
