Autumn equinox: Everything to know on the first day of fall | Foliage map, time change, lunar eclipse

Colorful leaves are illuminated by the sun along the Lehigh River as the SteelStacks stand tall in the background.

Fall colors littler the landscape around Easton's College Hill, and Phillipsburg in the distance.

Colorful vines snake up the side of a building along North Main Street, near Morris Street in Phillipsburg.

The sun illuminates the fall colors of this tree along Sprint Street along Route 378 in Bethlehem.

Indian Tower, highest elevation of original Nazareth, hidden under colorful trees and surrounded by acres of cornstalks.

Sun illuminates the vibrant fall colors of trees along Clinton Terrace, on the campus of Lafayette College in Easton.

The Holy Infancy Church steeple peeks out from behind this vibrant tree along Taylor Street in Bethlehem.

Fall colors littler the landscape along the Delaware River near Alpha, NJ.

Fall leaves pile up on a lawn along W. Pierce Street in Easton.

Fall's cornstalks stand tall under puffy white clouds along West High Street in Nazareth.

Fall colors and a sign welcomes people to downtown Easton at the intersection of Spring Garden and Larry Holmes Drive.

Fall colors littler the landscape along Lake Nockamixon.

A colorful leaf pokes out from the Monocacy Creek in Bethlehem.

SteelStacks peak out from behind colorful trees in Bethlehem.

A single tree shows off its true colors in Lehigh Township, along the Lehigh River.

This colorful tree makes a great background for hometown heroes signs along North Main Street, in Phillipsburg.

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It’s the first day of fall.

That means the leaves will be changing colors as the days get cooler and shorter. We’ll have to adjust clocks for the biannual time change, and hope for clear skies for the next lunar eclipse.

Autumn 2021 officially begins with the September equinox at 3:21 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, when the sun crosses directly over the equator. It happens twice a year, on the first days of spring and fall.

The equinox marks a midpoint between the summer and winter solstices — the longest and shortest days of the year, respectively. The days have been getting shorter in the northern hemisphere since the first day of summer on June 20, going from roughly 15 hours of daylight in the Lehigh Valley to 12 hours currently, and continuing down to 9 daylight hours on Dec. 21, the first day of winter.

Fall foliage map

Cooler weather means changing leaves. Fall foliage will peak in northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey in mid-October, starting in the north.

In the Lehigh Valley, peak fall color is generally expected around late October.

(Can’t see the interactive fall foliage forecast map? Click here.)

As for where to see fall foliage, the Poconos broadly ranks among the best places in the country, as selected by readers in USA Today’s 10Best.com project.

A list of top leaf-peeping spots by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources highlights Lehigh Gorge State Park, Delaware State Forest and Promised Land State Park, all north of the Lehigh Valley.

In the northern corner of New Jersey, Stokes State Forest and High Point State Park offer some of the Garden State’s best colors and vistas, according to the state Division of Parks and Forestry.

Jacobsburg State Park is a good local option, and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is another choice spot for colorful fall hiking.

(Can’t see the map of fall foliage sites near the Lehigh Valley? Click here.)

Daylight saving time ends

After the color peaks and the leaves fall, it will be time to “fall back” for the clock change.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 7.

That’s when clocks are set back an hour, giving us the appearance of more daylight in the morning but less in the evening.

We’ve been in daylight saving time since the second Sunday in March and we will return to it again on Sunday, March 13, 2022. We actually spend more of the year in daylight saving time than so-called standard time.

A nearly full moon hangs in the clear sky over the Lehigh Valley on Sept. 19, 2021, one night before the September harvest moon.

Lunar eclipse in November

The next full moon, the first of fall 2021, won’t be until Oct. 20, the hunter’s moon. But it’s the November full moon that we’ll most want to watch.

A lunar eclipse will be visible — weather-permitting, of course — across the U.S. early on Nov. 19.

The moon will appear to turn red as it passes through the Earth’s shadow, giving the nickname “blood moon.” The November eclipse will last from 1 to 7 a.m., reaching maximum eclipse around 4 a.m.

If the clouds don’t cooperate (or if you can’t wake up that early), there will be another chance to see a lunar eclipse in May 2022.

The Lehigh Valley won’t see another solar eclipse like the one last June until 2023.

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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.

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