The return of the pumpkin spice latte may be an unofficial start to fall, but there's no way around it: the days are officially getting shorter and darker, fast.
On Thursday, Chicago will see its final sunset after 7pm.
According to NBC 5 Hurricane Team, the sun will set at 7:01 p.m. Thursday. A day later, on a Friday, the sun sets at 6:58 p.m.
The city will lose about three minutes of daylight per day this year, reports Sunrise-Sunset.
The city first crossed the threshold on St. Patrick was in March, but after six months of bright light, the changing seasons meant darkness fell faster and earlier for the rest of the year.
Indeed, sunset in late September occurs shortly after 6:30 p.m., and from September 27 there will be less than 12 hours of daylight per day.
The autumn equinox at 8:04 am on September 22 is marked by slightly richer light than the evening due to several factors, most notably the refraction of sunlight by Earth's atmosphere. This light stays below the horizon for several minutes after sunset, making it more than 12 hours of the same day.
On October 23, the sun sets first before 18:00, until December 9, when it sets at 4:21. Summer time ends on November 6, exactly one hour before sunset.
After that, the days will become shorter as the sun rises more slowly, but technically the sun will stay a little longer each day, giving the region the first steps of spring in 2023.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to properly reflect that Friday's sunset will occur before 7pm.
