The chill of change is in the air in the Chicago area this week, but cooler temperatures aren’t the only milestones the region is taking as fall approaches.
The autumnal equinox will arrive around 7:44 a.m. on Sunday, September 22, but the Chicago area will experience many notable daylight events before and after that date.
Most city residents assume that there will be about 12 hours of daylight and nightlight on the autumnal equinox, but that’s not entirely true. In fact, the first day with less than 12 hours of daylight won’t occur until three days later, on September 25, according to TimeandDate.
For daylight lovers, it will take nearly six months to return to 12 hours of sunlight, with that date set for March 17, 2025.
Another key milestone in the march towards autumn will take place on Sunday, September 15. On this date, the sun will set before 7 p.m. for the first time since March 16, and sunset will occur at 6:58 p.m. that day.
For the remainder of the month, Chicago will lose just under three minutes of daylight per day, with sunset occurring just after 6:30 p.m. in late September.
The next major milestone will come on October 21, when the city will see the sun disappear below the horizon before 6 p.m., at which point we will see less than 11 hours of daylight each day.
These reductions will continue unabated until December, when the city will enjoy just over nine hours of daylight. The earliest sunset of the year will occur in early December, with the sun setting around 4:19 p.m.
After the winter solstice, the region will slowly begin to see more daylight, but will only gain a few seconds per day until the end of 2024.
