Hello Fall

By Meteorologist Rich Hoffman

Fall began today at 11:44am Eastern Daylight Time. The Autumnal Equinox occurs when the sun's direct rays are over the Equator and the Earth sees 12 hours of Daylight and 12 hours of Darkness.
See graphic on left.

The sun is our energy source, so as the Earth tilts and rotates around the sun, the incoming radiation(energy) changes and this is why we see our different seasons. In the Summer, (summer solstice) the sun's direct rays hit the Tropic of Cancer, and this makes places like the northeast warm and our daylight is about 15 hours. As the earth continues to move around the sun the rays will move from the Tropic of Cancer in the Summer to the Tropic of Capricorn in the winter. The Northeast receives less radiation (daylight) and hence the colder temperatures.

This is also the time of year when the leaves start to change and it can be a beautiful sight. The leaves have started to change in New England and we will start to see a change here on Long Island by the first week of October.


List of foliage Reports.

Vermont - New York - Maine

Connecticut - Foliage Reports

Massachusetts  - New Hampshire

Winter begins Saturday December 21st at 7:04am Eastern Standard Time.