Fall/Autumn Begins Tonight at 9:03pm, Tomorrow Will Be the First Full Day of Fall

The September Equinox that marks the beginning of fall is at 9:03 pm tonight. The days and nights are of almost equal length (the sun rises at 7:21 am this morning and sets at 7:30 pm tonight) and the sun will be reaching a lower and lower altitude in the sky, triggering the beginning of the process that will cause the leaves of deciduous trees to change colors and eventually fall to the ground.

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A couple of videos and links have been added below to describe the September Equinox.

National Geographic on the Equinoxes

Equinoxes | National Geographic



The Real Reason Leaves Change Color In the Fall

Star Date article and podcast about Autumn [LINK]

Sky and Telescope article and podcast about Autumn [LINK]

Today in Weather History

1810: A tornado striking Fernhill Heath in the United Kingdom had a width between 0.5 to 1 mile; making it the widest path ever in Britain.

1890: A severe hailstorm struck Strawberry, Arizona. Five days after the storm hail still lay in drifts 12 to 18 inches deep.

2006: The tri-state area of Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky was struck by the worst tornado outbreak in the recorded history during the month of September. One supercell produced a long-track F4 tornado across southeastern Missouri into southwestern Illinois. This tornado traveled 27.5 miles and is featured in the first video embedded below. More information on the outbreak can be seen on Wikipedia. [LINK]

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Almanac for September 22, 2018

Macon Media will be experimenting with expanding the daily Extreme Almanac to post more information about weather extremes and averages in Macon County, in North Carolina and beyond. 

For the next few months, features will be added or removed. If you have suggestions for what you would like to see included here, please email Almanac at editor@MaconMedia.com


Weather Averages for September in and around Macon County

	Franklin	Highlands	Andrews	Clayton	Cullowhee	Bryson City
High	78	72	80	79	78	80
Low	54	61	54	55	55	55
Rain	4.61	7.64	4.45	5.94	4.21	5.04
Snow	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fall/Autumn Begins Tonight 

The September Equinox that marks the beginning of fall is at 9:54 pm tonight. The days and nights are of almost equal length (the sun rises at 7:22 am this morning and sets at 7:30 pm tonight) and the sun will be reaching a lower and lower altitude in the sky, triggering the beginning of the process that will cause the leaves of deciduous trees to change colors and eventually fall to the ground.

A couple of videos and links have been added below to describe the September Equinox.

National Geographic on the Equinoxes



Why Leaves Change Their Color

Star Date article and podcast about Autumn [LINK]

Sky and Telescope article and podcast about Autumn [LINK]

Today in Weather History

1810: A tornado striking Fernhill Heath in the United Kingdom had a width between 0.5 to 1 mile; making it the widest path ever in Britain.

1890: A severe hailstorm struck Strawberry, Arizona. Five days after the storm hail still lay in drifts 12 to 18 inches deep.

2006: The tri-state area of Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky was struck by the worst tornado outbreak in the recorded history during the month of September. One supercell produced a long-track F4 tornado across southeastern Missouri into southwestern Illinois. This tornado traveled 27.5 miles and is featured in the first video embedded below. More information on the outbreak can be seen on Wikipedia. [LINK]



F4 Tornado Crosses from Missouri to Illinios




Record Weather Events for September 22nd

Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)

Highest Temperature 91°F in Franklin in 1955
Lowest Temperature 29°F in Highlands in 1918
Greatest Rainfall 3.10 inches in Highlands in 1898

Record Weather Events for September
(1872-2017)

Highest Temperature 98°F in Franklin on Sept 4, 1975
Lowest Temperature 27°F in Franklin on Sept 30, 1967
Greatest Rainfall 11.87 inches in Highlands on Sept 29, 1964

Record weather events for this date and month in Macon County

Record Weather Events for Sept 22nd in North Carolina

Highest Temperature 105°F in Belhaven, Beaufort County in 1921
Lowest Temperature 23°F in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County in 1983
Greatest Rainfall 8.00 inches in Patterson, Caldwell County in 18986
(rainfall was due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Five of 1898. Storms were not named at that time) .

Record Weather Events for September in North Carolina

Highest Temperature 109°F in Weldon, Halifax County on 09-07-1954
Lowest Temperature 23°F in Marion, McDowell County on 09-28-2000
Greatest Rainfall 18.30 inches in Southport, Brunswick County on 09-16-1999


Sun and Moon

Sun

Begin civil twilight 6:56 a.m.
Sunrise 7:22 a.m.
Sun transit 1:26 p.m.
Sunset 7:30 p.m.
End civil twilight 7:56 p.m.


Moon

Moonset 4:52 a.m.
Moonrise 6:33 p.m.
Moon transit 12:08 a.m. tomorrow morning
Moonset 5:49 a.m. tomorrow morning


Phase of the Moon on September 22, 2018: Waxing Gibbous with 94% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Closest Primary Moon Phase: Full Moon on September 24, 2018 at 10:52 p.m. (local daylight time)



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Published at 2:30 am on September 22, 2018

#WNCscan #MaconWx #MaconAlmanac


Data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, The National Weather Service, Star Date Online, Sky and Telescope, National Geographic, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, U.S. Naval Observatory, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center.

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Happy Fall, Y'All!

Fall is in the Air

At 4:02 pm the Autumnal Equinox occurs and the season is known as Autumn, or Fall, begins. The first full day of fall is tomorrow, September 23rd.


This marks the time when the sun crosses the earth's celestial equator from the north and heads south. The nights and days are roughly equal during this time and the nights will begin to get longer as the sun rises and sets closer and closer to the south and does not get as high in the sky as the day before. The days and nights will start to get cooler.

Soon, on November 5th, at 2 am, Daylight Saving Time will end and we will set our clocks back (Fall back, Spring forward) an hour.

Hayy Fall, Y'all!

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River Reflections

River Reflections by Bobby Coggins.

The Little Tennessee River as seen from the David E Henson Bridge in Franklin, NC.

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Fall Colors and a Rainbow

The sun hit these trees just right at the same time there was a rainbow at the Community Facilities Building just south of Franklin, NC this morning.

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Waning Crescent in the Morning

Here is a waning crescent moon for you to enjoy on this brisk morning that is a  harbinger of autumn. 

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Fall Colors As Seen From Space

As you can see above, fall colors are visible even from space!


You can download the original 7 MB photo, taken one year ago today, from NASA's Earth Observatory.

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The View From Rattlesnake Gap

This is the view looking into the main valley toward Franklin from the west.

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Happy Hoar Frost!!!

Happy Hoar Frost!!!

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Wet Courtyard, With Color

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Autumn Statue

This is the Confederate Statue in Rankin Square in downtown Franklin, NC.

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More Fall Foliage

Another photo from the western end of Macon County.

Posting will likey be light this weekend as I am analyzing the election returns by precinct, and composing an essay to relay what I find.

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Looking Up

I took this photo looking straight up at the base of the bulding into the tree, which was in sunlight while I was in shadow.

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Dawn Redwood In Autumn Attire

Metasequoia glyptostroboides

The needle-like leaves on this deciduous tree are green during the spring and summer, and turn a lovely reddish color in the fall, and (over the course of a few days) then they all fall off the tree. One person I know calls it "The Sneezing Tree" because of the speed with which the needles fall off every autumn.

Here is an interesting website devoted to the tree.

And some interesting facts from my copy of Michael Dirr's "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants":

• It can grow 50 feet in 15 to 20 years.
• 
  
• leaves are bright green changing to brown in fall; can be an excellent orange-brown to red-brown, coloration is as good in South as in the North
• 
  
• The genus was described by Miki in 1941 from fossils discovered in Japan in Lower Pilocene strata. Extant specimens were found growing at the edges of rice paddies by T. Kan in China in the same year, and natives of the area call the shui-sa, or "water fir".
• 
  
• This tree has been growing and reproducing for 100 million years, and has been returned to North America by horticulturists after a 15 million year absence.
  

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It's Red

But what is it?

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Spooky Morning

Some mornings take forever.

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A Hunter's Moon Sets

I got this one on the campus of WCU this morning.

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Roberston Mountain

Looking nearly due north from just south of Catamount Gap near Western Carolina University. Another one, looking in the opposite direction.

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Flame Tree

I took this at the entrance to Western Carolina University yesterday morning, having waited half an hour for the sun to emerge from the fog long enough to get this shot of a tree that looked like it was on fire.

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Early Fall Color

The temperatures have been very cool during the later half of August and all of September...and the colors have been sporadically beautiful on a tree by tree basis.

It's as if each tree is on it's own schedule for changing color and losing their leaves.

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