When Is The 1st Day Of Fall 2024? What To Know About Autumnal Equinox

ACROSS AMERICA — You don’t have to wait until the first day of fall, which occurs Sunday, Sept. 22, to start enjoying the season — or to stop enjoying summer, for that matter.

This year was the fourth-hottest summer on record in the United States and warm temperatures may stretch well into fall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service, an arm of NOAA, predicts a warmer-than-average fall in most of the country.

The meteorological fall started on Sept. 1, while the astronomical season starts with the autumnal equinox.

With fall comes the promise of crisp air, show-stopping fall foliage, and cool evenings just perfect for sitting around a fire pit, or perhaps taking in a half-dozen fall and winter meteor showers, starting with the Orionids, which start Sept. 26 and ramble on through most of November,

There are plenty of chances to play in the sunshine before the cold of winter creeps in. It's prime time to go to apple orchards. Pumpkins are ripening on the vine. Farmers are cutting mazes into their cornfields to entertain local families.

Football season is underway for professional teams and many colleges, and “Friday night lights” — the moniker that’s been given to high school football games — are shining.

The autumnal equinox isn’t a daylong event but rather occurs at the exact moment the sun crosses the celestial equator — that’s at 8:43 a.m. Eastern Time.

The word equinox comes from the Latin words “aequus,” which means “equal,” and “nox,” which means night. That’s led to the perception that everyone worldwide sees the same amount of daylight and nighttime, but it’s not the absolute truth. To be precise, daylight lasts about eight minutes longer than nighttime on the day of the equinox, EarthSky reported.

Speaking of daylight, it’ll be time for the twice-annual clock-changing ritual before you know it. Daylight saving time ends Sunday, Nov. 3, when most Americans will turn their clocks back one hour.

Here are five other things to know about the September equinox:

1. There’s no guarantee, of course, but the chances of seeing stunning northern lights displays increase after the fall equinox, according to NASA. Both the spring and fall equinoxes are good aurora seasons, but autumn produces a surplus of geomagnetic storms — almost twice the annual average. And right now, the chances of seeing auroras are greater as the sun approaches “solar maximum” in its 11-year cycle and the number of sunspots ramps up.

• Related: Why You May See More Northern Lights Displays | Aurora Borealis Hunting: What’s A Kp Index, More Northern Lights Tips

2. The date of the September equinox varies. The fall equinox can occur as early as Sept. 21 or as late as Sept. 24, according to Space.com. A Sept. 21 autumnal equinox hasn’t occurred in several millennia, but some folks alive today may see it the next couple of times it rolls around, in 2092 and then again four years later in 2096. And the first day of fall hasn’t fallen on Sept. 24 since 1931, and that won’t happen again until 2303.

• Related: 2024 Guide To Meteor Showers, Supermoons And Other Celestial Events

Here’s the reason: A year is defined as 365 days by the Gregorian calendar, but it takes the Earth 365-¼ days to orbit the sun. What this means is the autumnal equinox occurs about six hours later than it did the year prior, which eventually moves the date by a day.

3. Thank Canada for spectacular fall sunsets with more vivid pinks, reds and oranges than at any other time of the year. The Weather Channel offers an explanation: As dry, clean Canadian air begins to sweep across the country, fewer colors of the rainbow spectrum are scattered by air molecules. That means the reds, oranges, yellows and pinks make it through for your sunset-viewing pleasure.

4. No matter where you are in the world, the sun will rise due east and set due west during the fall equinox (the same thing happens during the spring equinox). For the directionally challenged, it’s a good time for a reset. Go outside around sunset or sunrise, find a landmark and mark the sun’s location in relation to it.

5. Fall isn’t just a time to start winterizing homes against stink bugs and other insects and buttoning up other things outside. It’s rutting — or mating — season for deer, elk and moose, and males will battle it out by thrusting their antlers together until one of them gives up or dies.

Swans, geese and ducks begin their migration south. Frogs burrow deep into mud holes to wait out the winter. Chipmunks retreat to their underground tunnels. Bears eat and drink almost nonstop as they prepare for hibernation.