Lots Of Summer Left But Shorter Days Becoming Noticeable
The Valley just had 3 straight days with highs around 90 degrees and the pattern for much of August looks like a warmer-than-average one so there is still plenty of hot Summer weather ahead of us. That said, we are now over 6 weeks removed from the solstice (the longest day of the year) and the daily reduction of daylight is accelerating. We are about to enter what I like to call "Solar" Autumn, or the 3 months of the year in which the days get "shorter" at the fastest rate.
Since the "longest" day of the year, we have about an hour less daylight to enjoy as of August 6.
For many, the change may be most noticeable in the evening hours and the earlier sunsets will really become apparent by the end of this month. Hard to believe that we are less than 3 months away from the start of Standard Time and 5:00-5:15 sunsets.
Total daylight right now is still north of 14 hours but with a loss of 2 minutes and 30-40 seconds per day late in the Summer and early in Fall, the numbers really start falling fast.
The sun is getting a bit lower in the sky and sunrises and sunsets are edging closer due due east/west as we head toward the equinox. The yellow line is where the sun rises and the dark orange is sunset.
