Almost 4-Hours of Daylight Lost Since June 21

Yes, it's true, we have lost nearly 4-hours of daylight since the longest (daylight) day of the year, the Summer Solstice. Pretty depressing isn't it.

Our Fox17 Meteorologist Haleigh Vaughn, says that the time between sunrise and sunset is slowly but surely shrinking. West Michigan begins losing daylight hours immediately after the summer solstice, when we have the most daylight hours, equaling 15 hours and 21 minutes in West Michigan.

So, you ask, why are we losing daylight hours? You learned this in school from your science teacher, remember. No, neither did I. It's all due to the tilt of the earth. There are two times during the year when the earth is tilted either away or towards the sun. During the summer solstice, the tilt of the earth's axis towards the sun is at the maximum. It provides the most daylight hours, and of course, warmer temperatures. During the winter solstice, the earth's tilt away from the sun is at the maximum, and boy, is it cold!

As of October 3rd, officially West Michigan has lost 3 hours and 44 minutes of daylight since the longest day of the year, and we will continue to diminish in daylight hours until the winter solstice on December 21st.

The good news? After December 21st we will start to get more daylight, but just bit at a time. Hey, I'll take anything.