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Is it already fall, or is it still summer? While some people are already pulling out their thick sweaters and sipping pumpkin spice lattes, others are still enjoying every last ray of sunshine. But who is “right” now? There are actually two answers to the question of when fall begins. Because there is a meteorological event and a calendar starts to fall. The meteorological start of autumn always falls on September 1, whereas the calendar start can vary. In 2024, autumn begins on September 22, according to the calendar. We explain how the different dates come about.
The terms meteorological and calendar start of autumn can sometimes be confused. While the former almost sounds like it depends on the weather, the latter is more likely to be a fixed date. But the terms have a different origin.
That’s why the meteorological beginning of autumn is on September 1
The meteorological start of autumn is not based on when it gets cold in the fall but begins—like all meteorological seasons – on the first day of the month. Nevertheless, this has something to do with the weather. This is because climatological evaluations are usually only available for the whole month. The weather services provide average temperatures, rainfall, and the like for one month. In September, the average maximum temperature in Germany was around 19 degrees, the minimum temperature was 10 degrees, and it rained seven days on average this month. meteorological fall then lasts for three months until November 30.
How do we decide when the calendar start of autumn is
The calendar start of autumn is also called the astronomical start of autumn, as it is determined by the sun’s position and always falls on the day on which there are exactly twelve hours between sunrise and sunset. This is called the equinox, which occurs in both fall and spring. In the fall, it falls on either September 22 or 23. It can even be calculated to the minute, as the decisive factor is the point at which the sun is perpendicular to the equator. In 2024, this will be on September 22 at 14:43. The calendar or astronomical autumn then continues until the winter solstice, i.e., the day of the year on which the sun shines the shortest, which falls on December 21 every year.
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