When is the first day of fall? Here’s how much daylight California will lose as season starts

Labor Day traditionally signals the end of summer, but when is the first official day of fall?

The autumn equinox signals the start of the fall season in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, when leaves start to change color, temperatures get cooler and days get shorter.

In 2024, the autumn equinox lands on Sept. 22, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Here’s what you can expect.

What is the first day of fall?

The autumn equinox signals the first day of fall.

During an equinox, the sun shines right over the equator, resulting in “equal amounts of day and night throughout the world,” according to NASA.

When will the sun rise and set on autumn equinox?

The sun will rise at 6:54 a.m. on Sept. 22 in Sacramento, according to Time and Date, an online world clock.

Sunset will be at 7:01 p.m. in Sacramento on that date.

How much sunlight will we lose?

As fall continues past the autumnal equinox, the days will progressively get shorter until the winter solstice, which falls on Dec. 21 in 2024.

That marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, according to the National Weather Service.

Sacramento will lose roughly a minute of sunlight each day in September.

By Sept. 30, the sun will set at 6:49 p.m. in the capital city, according to Time and Date.

This means Sacramento will lose about 39 minutes of sunlight between Sept. 5 — when the sun is slated to set at 7:28 p.m. — and the end of the month.

Sacramento will lose another 43 minutes of sunlight throughout October, according to Time and Date, with the sun setting at 6:06 p.m. on Halloween.

What is the fall weather forecast for California in 2024?

The entire state of California can expect above-average temperatures this fall, The Sacramento Bee previously reported.

That’s according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, which has been publishing weather forecasts since 1792.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center had a similar forecast for autumn.

As of Sept. 5, temperatures were leaning above normal for most of California for the months of September to October and November.

However, temperatures were expected to have equal chances of being above or below normal along the coast, the Climate Prediction Center said.

Will California see rain this fall?

Parts of California may see below-normal rain for September though November, according to the Climate Prediction Center’s precipitation outlook.

Areas south of the San Francisco Bay Area are likely to have below-normal precipitation, The Bee previously reported.

The region north of the Bay Area has an equal chance of having below or above-normal rain.

This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 12:50 PM with the headline "When is the first day of fall? Here’s how much daylight California will lose as season starts."