Notice days getting shorter in October? Here's how much daylight we've lost
You might have noticed that the days are getting shorter in October, and it could be a bit disappointing for some.
The amount of daylight quickly grows shorter as October progresses, with the fastest decrease at the beginning of the month. In total, anywhere from 40 minutes to upwards of 90 minutes of daylight are lost between the first and last day of the month in cities such as Seattle and Minneapolis.
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Minutes of daylight lost between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31 across the Lower 48 states. (FOX Weather)
There are 31 days in October, and we typically lose about a minute or two at sunrise and sunset. That means the days are getting shorter and shorter. If you do the math, that’s roughly 60 to 70 minutes of added darkness between Oct. 1 and Halloween.
For some, the last 7 p.m. sunset of the year occurs in October, ushering in a five-month period in which the sun goes down before 7 p.m. In parts of the southern U.S., the earliest sunset occurs more than a month before the latest winter sunrise. It takes until early to mid-January to start slowly gaining morning daylight.
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FILE - Campers watch the sunset on Temple Mountain in the San Rafael Swell on Oct. 9, 2022 outside Hanksville, Utah. (George Frey/Getty Images)
It’s all about Earth's axial tilt. The speed at which you lose daylight hours depends on your latitude. The higher your latitude, the faster you lose daylight.
Some cities across the U.S. already had their last 7 p.m. sunset of the year. Detroit saw its last 7 p.m. or later sunset on Oct. 9. Huston reached this milestone on Oct. 7. Tampa and Atlanta will have sunsets before 7 p.m. by next week.
These cities see their last 7 p.m. sunset of the year in October. (FOX Weather)
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Many cities in the U.S. won't have a sunset past 7 p.m. again until March 2023 when the clocks spring forward one hour with the return of Daylight Saving Time.