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 hitting as fall approaches.
The fall equinox will arrive at approximately 7:44 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22, but the Chicago area will see plenty of daylight-related milestones prior to, and after, that date.
While most residents would assume that the city will see roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 nighttime hours on the fall equinox, that isn’t quite true. In fact, the first day with fewer than 12 hours of daylight won’t occur until three days later on Sept. 25, according to TimeandDate.
For daylight lovers, it will take nearly six months to get back to 12 hours of sunlight, with that date arriving on March 17, 2025.
Another key milestone in the march toward fall will occur on Sunday, Sept. 15. On that date, the sun will set prior to 7 p.m. for the first time since March 16, with sunset occurring at 6:58 p.m. on 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. at the end of September.
The next milestone will arrive on Oct. 21, when the city will see the sun dip below the horizon before 6 p.m., and by that point, we will be seeing fewer than 11 hours of daylight each day.
Those reductions will continue unabated until December, when the city will receive just over nine hours of daylight. The earliest sunset of the year will occur in early December, with the sun setting at approximately 4:19 p.m.
After the winter solstice, the area will slowly start seeing more daylight, but will only gain mere seconds per day through the end of 2024.