PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Summer is gearing up to hand the weather baton over to autumn.

We know that this can sometimes be a smooth transition and in other years, it may be a bit more abrupt or delayed. One thing is for certain: we will officially make the step Thursday at 6:03 p.m. as the incoming solar energy is about equal in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

If you haven’t explored changing out the wardrobe for your pumpkin patch clothes, you may want to start the rotation in the coming weeks. We are closing out the summer and turning everything over to the beautiful season of autumn.

The falling leaves and the changing colors will be here in no time. You can read more about that in the link below.

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

We will have just about equal time of day and night in the coming days (~12 hours). Since the earth has a 23.5-degree axial tilt, the direct sunlight changes throughout the year. We are to the point where that direct sunlight is focused on the equator. A transition from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere will occur as we approach winter.

FALL TRANSITION WEATHER

We know what this means for our weather — it’s going to get colder up here in the Pacific Northwest.

The fall transition starts on September 22 with an average high temperature of 75 degrees and an average low of 53 degrees. By the time we reach just the “halfway” point of the season, we nearly drop the average high temperature by 20 degrees. The change over the next 45 days is always really noticeable as temperatures start to consistently feel colder.

The second half of fall starts to feel more like winter as temperatures drop to the 40s and the overnight temperatures drop to the 30s. This is when we start to consistently pick up snowfall in the higher elevations and we say goodbye to any hopes of mild fall air.

Again, if you haven’t thought about cycling the summer clothes out for more flannels and jeans, you should start the action sooner rather than later.

Hey, do you remember how we celebrated meteorological fall a few weeks back? We have now reached the moment where we get to celebrate our astronomical fall.

Here is a reminder of the difference between the two — astronomical fall is when we can officially start saying it’s time for flannels and pumpkin spice! Sweater weather will officially be in play too.

Cheers to all the summer festivities. We hope your cup is filled and now we make space for our next season.