The changing daylight hours thread

[Wynn D Woo]

 ChillyJuju  It doesnt really though does it.

The clocks dont go back just after the autumn equinox but rather at the end of October. If we have to keep messing about and using GMT, then the clocks should go forward at the end of Feb which would be a better use of daylight.

[Methuselah]

 Wynn D Woo It would also reduce leccy bills. Maybe there's been some behind-the-scenes lobbying going on? 

[Wynn D Woo]

 Methuselah  It would reduce leccy use a bit.  And it wouldn't surprise me that some quarters have resisted making some changes...

[damianslaw]

After last week's relatively sunny days, we've taken a major step back this week, feels we've gone back a month, low cloud days are making for very low light levels, by half 5 darker tones setting in and quite dark by half 6. 

Gosh its a long slog to the clocks going forward, can't come soon enough! How different things feel once that day arrives. Second most psychologically affecting day of the year, after 'dark Sunday' in late October. 

[RJBingham]

 

                                   HAPPY EQUILUX 

 

 

 

 

[Macc2023]

Well today here in Macclesfield is the last day that the night is longer then the day.

So from tomorrow the days are longer then the nights.

[Summer8906]

Due to GMT we're still getting some of the earliest sunsets in the temperate northern hemisphere though Vienna appears now to have an earlier sunset than London (1803 vs 1809).

Bratislava is even earlier (daytime a very exact 0600-1800) and Budapest is still in the pre-6pm sunset club (1753) presumably due to being even more easterly in its timezone than us.

If the USA hadn't switched to DST already, Boston would be still with pre-1800 sunsets.

Tokyo is earlier still at 1751, though it's never really light there in the evening due to a lack of observance of DST.

Wonder if any other major, well-known city can beat Tokyo for early sunset currently?

Edited March 17 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

 damianslaw The evenings do seem light here but maybe I'm still expecting it to be dark at 6pm and pleasantly surprised it isn't.

Often cloudy to dull though, and not at all springlike. It more closely resembles the period of October under BST: sunset just about the right side of 6pm but mostly cloudy, damp and humid. This afternoon positively screamed "October" for conditions.

Edited March 17 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

 Summer8906 2 weeks time and everything will feel very very different, just one one more weekend ' dark side of the year', I don't find October days half as dark as March days I wonder if simply because we have stored 6 months of sun and light, whereas in March we've had 4 months of gloom.

Edited March 17 by damianslaw

[Dangerous55019]

Hello everyone. 
Sorry for my recent quietness... Real life and what have you... *sigh*

Anywhooo... Tomorrow, Wednesday they 20th of March is the first quarter day of the year - the Vernal Equinox, (as we've already had the equilux).

So for us here in the Northern hemisphere we're about to enter the 'summer' part of the year.

I've already noticed that the quality of the sunlight has altered from what it was last month, it now appears to be much brighter, (when its not cloudy obviously. Lol).

The clocks change in a couple of weeks as well... And then it'll be full steam ahead towards the summer solstice! 

[rwtwm]

 Wynn D Woo There is a good reason why it's not symmetrical though. Solar noon is 30 mins later at the end of Feb than it is at the end of October, so we get half the benefit of DST for free! As we move through March, Noon slips back and that benefit is partly lost by the end of the month. 

My personal preference would be to switch around the second week of March. By then Sunrise would be earlier than after the October change, which feels reasonable.

[Dangerous55019]

Morning all.

Thought for the day…….. This time next week, won’t be this time next week!

Well, at least for us her in the U.K.

[markyo]

 Dangerous55019 I find this time of year akin to starting a long climb up a steep mountain, the summer solstice is the summit, over that its far easier journey, the worst is over and the journey to better less harsh light levels has begun. Nothing beats those long Autumnal shadows when they first appear. 

[Dangerous55019]

Morning @markyo 

Seconded, thirded and fourthed mate! 
For me as a reverse S.A.D. sufferer I’m starting to enter worst time of the year; which as you’ve rightly pointed out is this long hard climb to the summer solstice. 
 

I am generally ok with everything until around the middle of April; and the. It hits me hard… Very hard. 
 

But like you, I’m also looking forward to the first signs of those autumn mists and shadows once the summer solstice out of the way.

No pain, no gain I suppose.

[Maz]

 Dangerous55019 As a winter SAD sufferer, I’m at the opposite point of the cycle.  The accelerating gains in light from late January onwards, lead to those wonderful spring and early summer days…

I know the dread you talk of only too well though, so you have my thoughts.  
 

At the opposite time of year (late Sept) I find it is the thought of the lack of light that drags me down, physically there is still plenty of light though.  Enjoy the darkness/lightness whilst it’s there and try to compress the bad part to maximum of 3 months…that’s my aim anyway.  Sort of works!!!

[Dangerous55019]

Evening @Maz 

Thank you for your kind words and understanding on this. 
I know many, many folk like your good self who suffer with winter S.A.D. … So the fact that I tend to come alive in the dark time of the year; well… I still get classed as ‘odd’… But hey… It doesn’t bother me.

I fully understand the feeling that you get from January onwards… As during early July noticing the darkness slowly increasing and creeping in at silly o’clock in the morning, when most normal folk are asleep, to me is a wonderful feeling of relief, and then slowly noticing the tiny increase in darkness at the evening end of the day… Wow!  

It makes July (for me at any rate) a much more bearable month than May… Even though the day light levels are pretty much the same! 

[RJBingham]

At last, the weekend I've been looking forward too, since the end of October.

[Weather Enthusiast91]

 Maz Yes, and another way of looking at it is that it's only up until the solstice (winter or summer) then things gradually start improving after that (whether it is darkness or lightness you are looking forward to).

Personally I enjoy both long light summer evenings and long cosy winter evenings in equal measure. What would actually be ideal for me would be somewhere where the day and night hours are of equal length all year round. I believe Singapore is like that.

Edited March 25 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Summer8906]

So BST on Sunday, but I've never been less enthused at the prospect. Perhaps the dullest, darkest and wettest first week of BST on record coming up, will probably be dark by 7pm as if nothing had changed. And still dark at 7am, though less fussed about that (it's getting light too early at the moment).

I'd take an extension of GMT by two weeks if it meant settled, sunny weather.

 

Edited March 29 by Summer8906

[Methuselah]

Alleluia, my cat won't wake me up at 5:30! 

[Summer8906]

 Methuselah Yes, I'm actually pleased on average that the mornings will be slightly darker. Waking far too early at the moment! Sunrise tomorrow here is, incredibly, only 40 minutes later than around the summer solstice, by local time.

Just hope the weather, well, maybe not settles down (too much to ask in 2024) but reverts to merely "average changeable spring weather" in week 2 and we get a few sunny days mixed in with the rainy ones, so we can actually enjoy post-7pm daylight.

Edited March 29 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

 RJBingham Yes Light Sunday on the way, psychologically for me the affect is far less than the dark Sunday one.. you don't notice as much a change from going dark at 8pm compared to 7pm, than going dark at 4.30pm compared to 5.30pm.

Anyhow the clocks going forward marks the start of the best 3 month period of the year overall I feel.. those wonderful light long days of May and June are now very near.. bring it on, and kick the 5 month gloom since the clocks went back, its an endurance test coming to the end. Fully aware this marks the start of the long downhill ride to the summer solstice for some.  

Edited March 29 by damianslaw

[Summer8906]

Just now, damianslaw said:

Fully aware this marks the start of the long downhill ride to the summer solstice for some.  

Well, the weather of Week 1 of April will be perfect for those who dislike the daylight, at least. In the same way that, for myself, an unusually sunny November drastically mitigates the gloom of the onset of GMT.

Edited March 29 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

 Summer8906 Continuing the theme of last 5 months.

[Summer8906]

 damianslaw Make that 9.