The changing daylight hours thread

[4wd]

4 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

Here is a technical Q? why is it that the shortest day here is 7:27 long..but the shortest night is only 6:57 why the 30 minutes difference?

And also, why is it equinox when here Sunrise is 06:50 and sunset 19:01

[reef]

22 hours ago, 4wd said:

And also, why is it equinox when here Sunrise is 06:50 and sunset 19:01

Both are due to refraction of sunlight in the Earth's atmosphere. Essentially light rays are bent by the atmosphere which causes the sun to be seen on the horizon earlier (and later during sunset) than would otherwise be the case. This is more profound at higher latitudes and especially so during the winter as the sun takes longer to rise and set due to it's lower angle.

Edited September 24, 2019 by reef

[markyo]

4min 11sec a day now daylight loss per day,the max it can be for my location. Love this time of year,but i no many don't.

[Turnedoutniceagain]

Give or take a minute, we have an Equinox

[CheesepuffScott]

I would feel much better about the decreasing light levels, especially towards winter, if our 'winter' wasn't drizzle, overcast and 12 celcius. I'd have something to look forward to, snow glistening under the lamp post and the cosy feeling of being in front of the fireplace. Hoping for a winter of just that

[Frost HoIIow]

On 24/09/2019 at 19:54, markyo said:

4min 11sec a day now daylight loss per day,the max it can be for my location. Love this time of year,but i no many don't.

I'd like to experience the polar night with it's 24/7 darkness even if it's for just one Winter  Places like Tromsø in Norway & Murmansk have it. Obviously the further north the longer the polar night lasts like in Svalbard.

[Dangerous55019]

With the equilux now gone, we now have more darkness than daylight for the first time since the 17th March! Also we are now loosing daylight at its fastest rate! ... Currently four minutes and nine seconds a day! 
So I'd say that we're now pretty much at full speed towards the clock change and Halloween. 

[Sunny76]

On 25/09/2019 at 18:18, CheesepuffScott said:

I would feel much better about the decreasing light levels, especially towards winter, if our 'winter' wasn't drizzle, overcast and 12 celcius. I'd have something to look forward to, snow glistening under the lamp post and the cosy feeling of being in front of the fireplace. Hoping for a winter of just that

This is partly why I don’t look forward to it, but in a weird way, part of me does look forward to the shift to darker days. This helps one appreciate the longer days when they arrive.

[Sunny76]

On 27/09/2019 at 10:21, Dangerous55019 said:

With the equilux now gone, we now have more darkness than daylight for the first time since the 17th March! Also we are now loosing daylight at its fastest rate! ... Currently four minutes and nine seconds a day! 
So I'd say that we're now pretty much at full speed towards the clock change and Halloween. 

That’s the worst time for me. The sudden switch to an hour of more darkness in the e  evening, but by mid November you kind of adjust to it.

 

[damianslaw]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

That’s the worst time for me. The sudden switch to an hour of more darkness in the e  evening, but by mid November you kind of adjust to it.

 

A major change in overall feel takes place when the clocks go back, there is a shift in the week before, and then once it happens, we are suddenly all switched into 'winter mode' despite winter being another month away, all caused not by the feel of the weather, but the lack of light, dark evenings setting in from half 4 really does affect the mind and body. There is also the inevitable pull of christmas on the horizon which only reinforces the change in feel. 

[Sunny76]

On 25/09/2019 at 18:18, CheesepuffScott said:

I would feel much better about the decreasing light levels, especially towards winter, if our 'winter' wasn't drizzle, overcast and 12 celcius. I'd have something to look forward to, snow glistening under the lamp post and the cosy feeling of being in front of the fireplace. Hoping for a winter of just that

This is what winter should be, but unfortunately we have to endure 3-4 winters in a row sometimes of damp and cloudy borefests, which makes winter a very boring part of the year. 

[Sunny76]

5 hours ago, damianslaw said:

A major change in overall feel takes place when the clocks go back, there is a shift in the week before, and then once it happens, we are suddenly all switched into 'winter mode' despite winter being another month away, all caused not by the feel of the weather, but the lack of light, dark evenings setting in from half 4 really does affect the mind and body. There is also the inevitable pull of christmas on the horizon which only reinforces the change in feel. 

That’s when the Christmas countdown sort of begins, not early September like some seem to bang on about.

[NUT]

Completely dark before 8pm here tonight first time that's happened for a good while

[cheeky_monkey]

now that the clocks have gone back in the UK..and go back here this coming Sunday..which would you prefer darker evenings or darker mornings?..for me i would prefer more light in the morning..take today for example..it was still dark at 9am  so i gain an hour of daylight next week in the mornings ..i would prefer it to get dark after 3pm and get light at 7am

[damianslaw]

Thankfully the clocks going back has coincided with a spell of fine settled weather, meaning dusk hasn't set in until after 5pm.. the real shock will come Thursday which will be cloudy and rainy and dusk will probably be setting in before half 4, and dark proper by 5pm rather than half 5, quarter to 6 as has occurred this evening.

[damianslaw]

The dark days before christmas are looming, indeed it already feels we are there, given the dull skies we are enduring right now, getting dark around 4pm.. thankfully the outlook is something much brighter to lift the gloom. We are though bottoming out soon - evening wise, we reach the low on 13th then it stays static for a few days before rising ever so slightly. Mornings have a long way to go yet before bottoming out - another month, and the rise is ever painfully slow through January.

 

[CheesepuffScott]

Lights on by 4 now and curtains shut by half past with the recent darkness. Sure is a sign of ‘winter’.. Perhaps a little more brightness with the incoming colder, drier weather. Thankful!

Edited November 27, 2019 by CheesepuffScott

[Azazel]

Just over 2 weeks to go until we no longer lose anymore evening daylight!

[Summer Sun]

1 minute ago, Azazel said:

Just over 2 weeks to go until we no longer lose anymore evening daylight!

Yep. Not long now. 

[philglossop]

This is most painful week of the year light wise to me, it's dark by just after 4pm and it's just a little too early for Christmas lights to go up in my option. 

Roll on Sunday when I can put the decs up. 

[hillbilly]

On 26/11/2019 at 20:30, damianslaw said:

The dark days before christmas are looming, indeed it already feels we are there, given the dull skies we are enduring right now, getting dark around 4pm.. thankfully the outlook is something much brighter to lift the gloom. We are though bottoming out soon - evening wise, we reach the low on 13th then it stays static for a few days before rising ever so slightly. Mornings have a long way to go yet before bottoming out - another month, and the rise is ever painfully slow through January.

 

With recent days so dull,misty and murky it has made it unusually dark  and if it is to give drier clearer conditions in the next couple of weeks the changeover around December 13th could possibly seem lighter than it has been of late.

[damianslaw]

After some welcome brightness end of last week, early this week, we have now plunged into the darkest depths of the year lightwise, wet overcast afternoons quickly descent into pitch black nights.. today saw light levels not really gaining a foothold, and there was a perpetual gloom shrouding everything, a semi-darkness, dusk set in around half 3 and dark by 4pm.. plenty more such days ahead I see.. thankfully only a week to go before light levels in the evening at least bottom out.

Welcome to the dark days before christmas! 

[CheesepuffScott]

Been thankful for the clear mornings / days so it’s been reasonably bright by around 7:10am and not dark until after 4:30.. but with overcast skies it was dark at 4 today and with a dull start set for tomorrow it probably won’t be the least bit bright until after half 7

[Lauren]

Not long until the days start lengthening again which I'm looking forward to. The rainy days have the effect of it seeming much darker than it is.

[ManiaMuse]

Pretty much at peak darkness in the evenings now. The sun does not set any later here and evenings soon start to get lighter from about the 13th (albeit very slowly at first). I always see this as a milestone however small it is.

Sunrise still get later by another 10 minutes or so and does not reverse until the end of December though.