Damon: Oklahoma days are getting shorter

Published On: Nov 26 2012 03:07:48 PM CST

It doesn't take an astronomer to know the days are getting shorter. We all can tell when it seems the headlights are coming on earlier and earlier every afternoon.

But people whose mood is affected by the shorter days then rejoice. There is light at the end of the tunnel, sort of.

Right now, the planet is tilting on its axis, with the southern hemisphere enjoying the warmth of the spring while the northern hemisphere rolls deeper into fall, approaching winter.

For Oklahoma, this means that we're losing about 1:05 of daylight each day this week. That means that next weekend we will have about seven fewer minutes of daylight than this weekend.

Furthermore, that means that the amount of daylight Monday of 10 hours, one minute and 24 seconds will be replaced next weekend with only nine hours, 55 minutes and 48 seconds of daylight. However, in about two weeks our days won't be losing a minute of daylight every day, but rather only about 20 seconds.

This is because as we approach the winter solstice, the difference in daylight from the previous day slows down until Dec. 21, when suddenly things flip around and the days start to get longer than the previous day. The winter solstice occurs at 5:12 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 21.

For Oklahoma, this day means that the angle of the sun will be at its lowest -- 31.1 degrees in the sky. You may have noticed this already if you see the sun shining into your home and reaching parts of the home that don't normally see sun during the summer.

For me, it's the middle of my family room. In the summer time, the room is totally in the shade because the sun angle is higher in the sky, but this time of year, I have seen the sun angle low enough that the sunlight almost reaches the couch.

So if you're not a fan of the short days, then know that in less than a month, the days will start getting longer again and by June we will have almost five extra hours of daylight, and the weather will be a bit warmer, too.



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