Evenings have already started getting longer — as I pointed out in this post. Funnily enough (if it can be construed as funny) mornings DO NOT START getting earlier until 2024! Then, we really getting into the stride of things. Within a month of the solstice we would have gained in excess of 30 minutes!
Click to ENLARGE. I send you my blessings.Page 4 of my ‘Christmas’ book — talking of THE Winter Solstice. Click to ENLARGE.
As I do most years I give YOU, in peace, ‘Dona Nobis Pacem‘ (Grant us peace) for the Winter Solstice.
Kind of a strange concept to grapple with. The EARLIEST SUNSETS in New Hampshire happen around NOW — i.e., about 2-weeks ahead of the Winter Solstice.
That doesn’t mean we have as yet seen our SHORTEST DAY (my favorite day of the year) as yet. That still happens on December 21 — the Winter Solstice.
So, what gives.
Sunrise is still getting LATER & LATER. That is what SHORTENS the overall hours of daylight.
You can see this from the above table — with my annotations.
The shortening (or the lengthening) of days are NOT symmetrical — i.e., sunrise & sunset are not in lock steps. So, after December 14 sunsets start becoming LATER, but so do sunrises. Sunrises don’t start to get EARLIER till mid-January! So, the increase in daylight, post the solstice, is all due to sunsets happening later. Weird, but that is how it works.
Evenings have already started getting longer — as I pointed out in this post. Funnily enough (if it can be construed as funny) mornings DO NOT START getting earlier until 2023! Then, we really getting into the stride of things. Within a month of the solstice we would have gained in excess of 30 minutes!
Click to ENLARGE. I send you my blessings. Click to ENLARGE.
As I do most years I give YOU, in peace, ‘Dona Nobis Pacem‘ (Grant us peace) for the Winter Solstice.
Kind of a strange concept to grapple with. The EARLIEST SUNSETS in New Hampshire happen around NOW — 2-weeks ahead of the Winter Solstice.
That doesn’t mean we have as yet seen our SHORTEST DAY (my favorite day of the year) as yet. That still happens on December 21 — the Winter Solstice.
So, what gives.
Sunrise is still getting LATER & LATER. That is what SHORTENS the overall hours of daylight.
You can see this from the above table — with my annotations.
The shortening (or the lengthening) of days are NOT symmetrical — i.e., sunrise & sunset are not in lock steps. So, after December 14 sunsets start becoming LATER, but so do sunrises. Sunrises don’t start to get EARLIER till mid-January! So, the increase in daylight, post the solstice, is all due to sunsets happening later. Weird, but that is how it works.
First sunrise: left Quoddy Head & right Cadillac. Both in October.
I did the top graphic today for my new ‘Bold Coast‘ book.
The bottom image is from my first ‘Bold Coast’ book. Some have complained that it is too complicated. Hence the attempt to make a simpler graphic. I hope I succeeded.
Evenings have already started getting longer — as I pointed out in this post. Funnily enough (if it can be construed as funny) mornings DO NOT START getting earlier until January 7, 2022. Then, we really getting into the stride of things. Within a month of the solstice we would have gained in excess of 30 minutes!
Click to ENLARGE. I send you my blessings. Click to ENLARGE.
As I do most years I give YOU, in peace, ‘Dona Nobis Pacem‘ (Grant us peace) for the Winter Solstice.
Yes, yes, yes, the SHORTEST DAY is still on THE Solstice (i.e., December 21, 2021). You can see that, clearly, in the above table (from trusty ‘timeanddate.com‘).
But, the shortening of the days (or for that matter the lengthening of them post the solstice) does NOT happen symmetrically, i.e., from both ends (meaning sunrise & sunset). Yes, we kind of think it does, i.e., sunrises getting later & sunset getting earlier, BUT it is never symmetrical.
As you can see from the table above, sunsets will start to get later as of Monday, December 13. But, the shortest day is still 8 days further. Why? How? Sunrise keeps on getting later — until the solstice.
So, starting Monday evenings will slowly, very slowly, start getting later & later. Look forward to that. Today, sunset was way too early.
Well, I, having already created the table below (& publicized it), knew exactly what the dates were. So, I made sure I was in Lubec for the last few days.
I actually got up to Quoddy on the afternoon October 3, 2021. Given that I had got up early the day before I did NOT make an effort to get to Quoddy Head for sunrise on Monday, October 4th. I could have, but I opted to give it a miss.
I did, however, did get to Quoddy ahead of 6am on Tuesday, October 5th. There were about 10 people before I. I watched the first sunrise from the lighthouse. In the end there were about 10 cars in the car park & 30 (or so) folks. It was fun. Very collegiate.
But, I knew that Wednesday, October 6th was what would be truly special. The last first sunrise at Quoddy for the year. I was staying, quite literally, 5-minutes away. So, getting to Quoddy was not hard. I could even have walked in 20-minutes. But, I drove. Got there just after 6. Less people.
But, this time I did NOT bother trying to view it from the lighthouse. Instead, I immediately headed down the north (i.e., upper) leg of the ‘Coast Guard Trail’ (next to the lighthouse). I was heading towards the viewing platform. The day before I got a ‘bead’ on where the sun rose. So, I knew what angle I was seeking.
The platform is 0.5 mile into the trail. So, I knew I could get to it within 10-minutes. But, just before I got to the platform I spotted one of the cut-offs to a bluff. That looked to be just at the right angle. So, I went down it & made myself comfortable sitting on a rock outcrop.
The sun rose right in front of I — as the photos testify. No one else had bothered to venture down the trail. So, I had it all to myself. It was magical.
Click to ENLARGE. Check out my ‘Bold Coast‘ page on this website.
The above, categorically, is the definitive timetable. I did a lot of painstaking research (per my trademark) to get this nailed down. I was tired of seeing the inaccuracies.
Click to ENLARGE. Check out my ‘Bold Coast‘ page on this website.
The above, categorically, is the definitive timetable. I did a lot of painstaking research (per my trademark) to get this nailed down. I was tired of seeing the inaccuracies.
So, dear ‘Quoddy‘ only has the honors for 28 days each year, around the two equinoxes (& if you know your astronomy, that makes eminent sense).
IF you have gone up ‘Cadillac‘ over the Summer (paying the new ‘Use Fee’) you have been DUPED. Cadillac has not been in the frame since March 6.
Never heard of ‘Mars Hill‘? Here is a map, also from my book.
Click to ENLARGE.
You have to blame the Canadians for why it is Mars Hill rather than Cadillac during the summer. Has to do with hills casting shadows.
IF I can get everything squared off with the book, & the weather cooperates, I am hoping to make a trip up the Bold Coast to see first sunrise at Quoddy prior to October 7th. IF I can do October 6th that would be neat.
