Ushering in Autumn, Today is Last Day of Summer in Lakeville

Minnesotan's sure do love their summers. Maybe that's why the season gets two funerals—once on Labor Day, and again on the equinox, when Autumn officially begins.

Today happens to be the latter. Thursday, Sept. 22 is Summer's last day for 2011. Tomorrow, at 4:05 a.m. (CDT), the sun's rays will again hover over the equator. While we'll get (roughly) 12 hours of day and night, it's the last time we'll see that much sunlight until March 21(ish), 2012.

It's especially rough for the Twin Cities, which straddles the 45th longitudinal parallel. Here, we're actually halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. According to The U.S. Census Bureau, only 13 million Americans live north of the 45th parallel—a mere 4 percent of our nation's population.

Seems we truly are a brave bunch.

What else have I learned about fall? According to National Geographic:

• The equinoxes in spring and fall are the only two days of the year where the sun rises due east, and sets due west. This is consistent for the entire globe.
• The equinox, and all seasonal changes, happen at a goofy time each year because it's measured when the sun crosses the "celestial equator." This year, the suns rays will be directly over the Earth's equator at 4:05 a.m. CDT on Sept. 23. Factoring in time changes and daylight savings, that puts solar noon and the equinox directly overhead of in the Gulf of Guinea, just south of the African nation of Ghana.
• It's a myth that the globe sees 12 hours of day and night on the equinoxes. While it's close, the sun takes longer to rise and set in places further from the equator. In Minnesota, the net result is actually more daylight. In fact, tomorrow, the sun will rise at 7:01 a.m. and set at 7:09 p.m. giving us 12 hours and 8 minutes of daylight.
• Why the rapid cool down from summer to fall? The suns rays today are pretty much the same as they were on the first day of spring: March 22. Average temperature in Minnesota for March 22: 47 degrees.

Do you have any fun fall facts? We'd love to hear them!