Alabama is losing daylight at the fastest rate all year

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - For summer lovers it’s one of not-so-great times of year. Those who like fall, on the other hand, probably enjoy what I’m about to say about September and October.

During September and October the days get shorter and shorter. Not only that, but they get shorter at a faster rate than any other time of the year in Alabama.

We are in the stretch of the year where the most daylight is lost each day. — We are in the stretch of the year where the most daylight is lost each day.(WSFA 12 News)

In Montgomery, for example, every day loses at least 1 minute and 56 seconds of daylight for most of September and roughly the first half of October. There’s a 12-day stretch to round out September that features a daily loss of 1 minute and 58 seconds of daylight. This stretch is almost directly centered on the astronomical start of fall on September 22nd.

It’s important to note that every city and location has varying sunrise, sunset and daylength. The numbers you see in this story are all focused on Montgomery.

We're losing just under two minutes of daylight per day this month. — We're losing just under two minutes of daylight per day this month.(WSFA 12 News)

1 minute and 58 seconds is the fastest daily rate that Montgomery loses daylight. It never quite gets to 2 minutes. If you pay close enough attention over the next month at exactly when the sun rises and/or sets you will be able to notice a difference with each passing day.

The rate at which daylight is lost begins to slow down by the latter half of October. By Thanksgiving only 1 minute and 10 seconds of daylight is lost. By the start of winter in late December the days actually begin getting longer!

Sunrises get later and sunsets get earlier as September and October move along. The time change... — Sunrises get later and sunsets get earlier as September and October move along. The time change in November means sunsets before 5 p.m.(WSFA 12 News)

That may comes across as strange considering December, January and February are the coldest months of the year. It’s true, though; days get longer beginning December 23rd. The rate at which the days get longer starts off very slow and doesn’t really ramp up until February, March and April. That’s when nearly 2 minutes of daylight is being added to each passing day.

There’s more to all of this than just total daylength. The sunrises and sunsets are also changing as the transition to fall gets to ready to take place.

Today marks the last 7pm. sunset of 2022. The next time Montgomery sees a post-7pm sunset will be March 25th, 2023, which is after we spring forward. If you’re counting, that is just shy of 200 days.

Sunrises are changing too. The sun is coming up later and later each morning. Right now it’s around 6:30am. By Halloween the sun won’t be up until after 7am. That won’t last long though, as the time change on November 6th pushes the sunrises back closer to 6am.

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