Autumn officially begins today

Today is the Autumn Equinox which is most often referred to as the first day of fall in astronomical terms. The day and night will have near equal representation here in Kimball as the sun crosses the equator heading south for the next six months. The earth’s tilt is neither at its maximum lean nor at its least, we, as a planet, are directly in the middle for a change.

Did you know that this morning the sun rose exactly due east and it will set precisely due west? An occurrence that only happens twice a year on our planet. This happens along with an equally shared amount of night and day, give or take a few days.

Astronomical fall may fall anywhere from September 20 to 23 depending on the year, the earth’s position with the sun and whether or not it is a Leap Year, and has been used as a way to follow the seasons pretty much since the beginning of intelligent man.

However, in meteorological terms, the first day of Autumn was considered September 1 in the northern hemisphere.

In the mid 1900’s early meteorologists and climatologists decided it was more accurate to break the seasons into four equal time frames of three months each. They believed that the time of September 1 to November 30 more accurately portrays the temperature, climate and seasonal cycles of what is considered autumn. Dealing with whole months of information instead of partial months has also helped in gathering data, therefore producing more accurate statistics that assist in forecasting purposes that benefit agriculture, commerces, etc.

There are other ways to define our year and seasons around the world including the Celtic and Mayan, Egyptian, Hebrew, Hindu, Islamic, Chinese and the American basis, the Gregorian calendar, but they were all basically created around the three types of calendar base - solar, lunar and the lunisolar/solilunar calendars. All of these calendars were created using the sun, moon and planets for accuracy, not for simplicity.

It really doesn’t matter in the end which way you prefer to follow the seasons. All you need to do is step outside to see that we are now experiencing sights, smells and temperatures of Autumn.