A Summery Feel to the Start of Fall

Fall officially began at 10:49 a.m. Saturday, but it didn't feel like it. 

It didn't even feel like Indian summer weather, but rather the heat of the summer variety, with temperatures in East Cobb and across metro Atlanta reaching into the mid- to high-80s. 

Today's weather is expected to be the same on a beautiful weekend, with plenty of outdoor and indoor activities in and around Cobb. 

This afternoon from 4-7 another Sunday Funday at East Cobb Park will include music and family fun. Just bring a picnic dinner and enjoy. 

So what is the autumnal equinox? 

Equinoxes fall on the halfway point between solstices and occur, according to the Washington Post, "when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are of roughly equal length, everywhere in the world."

The nearly equal 12 hours of light and darkness can be attributed to the Earth's lack of an axial tilt on the day of the equinox. In fact, the word equinox is derived from the Latin words aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night.

The Old Farmer's Alamanac offers a scientific explanation:

On the first day of fall—the autumnal equinox—day and night are each about 12 hours long (with the actual time of equal day and night, in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring a few days after the autumnal equinox). The Sun crosses the celestial equator going southward; it rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west.

Days and nights also have equal length in the spring equinox, too. Today, sunrise in the Atlanta area came at 7:26 a.m., with sunset at 7:34 p.m. 

We can enjoy our 12 hours of daylight through the end of Daylight Savings Time on Nov. 4. 

There's also one other thing to note about the start of fall: A full moon will be rising next Saturday, Sept. 29, around 11:20 p.m. 

The first full week of fall will also feel like summer, with high temperatures ranging from the mid-70s to the low-80s. Low temperatures will be in the mid-50s.