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Good-bye summer, hello fall

Lisa Erven is in a quandary.

As a meteorologist with Environment Canada she adheres to the start of meteorological fall on Sept. 1 so tidier month-by-month weather records can be kept.

"But I also recognize that the general public pays the most attention to the astronomical seasons, which means most people are marking the beginning of fall today," said Erven.

Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere can happen Sept. 20, 21 or 22 any given year depending on the fall equinox or solstice, that exact moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator dividing the day and night into two almost-identical halves.

That means this year, the equinox in Victoria is today, Sept. 22, at exactly 12:21 pm.

</who>Lisa Erven, at far left wearing sunglasses, is a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
However, because all this astronomical stuff depends on the sun and the spinning of Earth on its axis, today isn't precisely 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark.

In fact, sunrise was at 6:59 am (while first light was actually at 6:29 am) and sunset will be at 7:12 pm, even if light lingers until 7:42 pm before getting completely dark.

In case you missed it, the full, harvest moon shone bright on Monday night, a sure sign fall is imminent.

The moon will still appear to be full tonight.

Fall can be a strange time of year for many.

If you're a summer devotee, fall may trigger feelings ranging from a slight melancholy to downright depression that winter is right around the corner.

After all, fall naturally brings with it rapidly shortening days and cooler temperatures.

If you revel in the four seasons, autumn is a magical time of cool, crisp days, the changing of colours and bountiful harvest.
Today in Victoria will be cloudy and 19C with a chance of showers.

And then the rest of the week will be all over the place with part sun and 20C Thursday and Friday, clouds on Saturday and the change of rain on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

</who>Victoria's weather will serve up a bit sun, a bit of cloud and bit of rain this first week of fall.

Erven and Environment Canada don't like to forecast out more than a week because predictions beyond that aren't very accurate.

But she did say fall is a transitional season, so expect anything from nice to nasty.

Looking forward, meteorological winter will start Dec. 1 and astronomical winter on Dec. 21.

If you're anxious for the start of spring, that will be March 1 meteorologically or March 20, when the sun next crosses the celestial equator during spring equinox.



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