12/9/2023 0 Comments Summer equinox meaning![]() ![]() Hobart, for example, only sees around 9 hours of daylight at the winter solstice-but 15 hours of daylight at the summer solstice. How many hours of daylight you'll see depends on your latitude (how far north or south you are). ![]() The Sun continues to move north in the sky until it's over the Tropic of Cancer in late June-the southern hemisphere's winter solstice.Īt the winter solstice, days are at their shortest. The Sun crosses over the equator again in late March, and days and nights are again the same length.Īfter the March equinox, the tilt of Earth's axis angles the southern hemisphere further away from the Sun, so days in Australia become shorter than nights. After this point, it appears further and further north in the sky each day. At this point, the Sun stops appearing to move south each day. The word 'solstice' comes from the Latin for 'sun-stopping'. This is the southern hemisphere's summer solstice. Summer solsticeĪfter the September equinox, the tilt of Earth's axis increasingly angles our south pole towards the Sun, so the Sun appears further south in the sky each day until it's over the Tropic of Capricorn around 22 December. This is because our atmosphere refracts (bends) sunlight so that we can see the Sun just before it's risen in line with the horizon and just after it's passed below the level of the horizon at sunset. of daylight on the spring equinox itself. In fact, days and nights are equal in length (each 12 h) for the southern hemisphere two or three days before the technical spring equinox and most of Australia sees about 12 h 8 min. In the southern hemisphere, this marks the tipping point from days being shorter than nights, to days becoming longer than nights. The date and time at which the centre of the Sun is directly over the equator in late September is called the equinox-from the Latin for 'equal night'. On those dates, the Sun appears directly above Earth's equator. The two equinoxes, in between, are when the tilt of Earth's axis is side-on to the Sun, so that our north and south poles are the same distance from the Sun. The solstices are the two times each year when the tilt in Earth's axis lines up most with the direction of the Sun, creating the maximum difference between daylight and nighttime hours. It also means that each 24-hour rotation of Earth leaves Australia in daylight for more or less time, depending on where we are in our orbit around the Sun. Earth rotates on its axis as it orbits the Sun, but the axis always points in the same direction.įrom the surface of the Earth, this means the midday Sun appears further north or south in the sky depending on the time of year. Our rotation axis is tilted relative to the plane of our orbit around the Sun.Īs we orbit the Sun, this tilt angles the southern hemisphere towards or away from the Sun at different times of the year.ĭiagram: Earth has seasons because its axis is tilted. We rotate around an 'axis'-a line from the north pole to the south pole, through the centre of the Earth-once every 24 hours, and we orbit the Sun once every year. The annual variation in temperatures that is felt in the south of Australia is a result of the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis. You can see some of these calendars of our Indigenous Weather Knowledge website. ![]() Over thousands of years, Indigenous Australians have maintained local calendars that divide each year into seasons based on prevailing weather patterns and phenology (the annual phenomena of animal and plant life). For guidance on the timing of enough rainfall to stimulate plant growth after the dry season, check our Northern Rainfall Onset tool. When the heavy rains arrive varies by year and location. dry season-the months that generally see less rain (May–September).wet season-the months that generally include the heaviest rainfall (October–April) and.In the tropics, each year is divided based on rainfall patterns: However, for Australia's northern tropics, there is little difference between average temperatures in 'winter' and 'summer', so the European four-season model isn't relevant there. You can view maps of average daily maximum temperature for winter, spring, summer and autumn across Australia here. spring and autumn-the three-month transition periods between summer and winter.winter-the coolest three months: June, July and August and.summer-the warmest three months: December, January and February.Australian summer, autumn, winter and spring are defined in the following way: But why?Īustralia's seasons: how many and when? Four seasons?Īustralia's weather year is typically divided into four seasons-based on the European model. Days are longer at the start and end of the year and shorter in the middle of the year. For most of Australia, weather at the start and end of each year is generally warmer, and the middle of the year is cooler. ![]()
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