Brad: When does fall officially arrive?

Published On: Sep 20 2013 10:37:07 AM CDT   Updated On: Sep 20 2013 10:58:20 AM CDT

The autumnal equinox will take place this Sunday at 3:44 p.m. Central Time.  Autumnal means fall, and equinox translates to equal nights. The fall equinox is when the suns rays are directly in line with the equator.

On the autumnal equinox, there are nearly 12 hours of daylight, and equal 12 hours of dark.  You might expect exactly 12 hours of light and dark on the equinox, but it's not quite.  It is not until Sept. 26 in Oklahoma City that that there is truly 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark.  This is because of our latitude, and a phenomena of the reflection and refraction of light in the atmosphere.

Atmospheric gases play a large role of when we see these outer rings of the sun to determine sunrise and sunset.  The waves of light from the sun pass through atmospheric gas causing them to bend, reflect and refract.  These changes to the sunlight can lead to a few minutes of change when sunrise and sunsets are observed.



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