The Jersey Shore is reaching a noticeable seasonal milestone Thursday evening as daylight continues its rapid September decline.
September 17 marks the final sunset at or after 7 p.m. for the beaches of Monmouth and Ocean counties. Just one month ago, there was still plenty of daylight at 7 p.m. By mid-October, it will already be dark by that time.
Atlantic and Cape May counties have a little more time. Their final 7 p.m. sunsets will arrive this weekend.
The quickly changing sunset times are part of the Jersey Shore’s fastest loss of daylight of the year. Around the September equinox, the region loses more than 2.5 minutes of daylight each day.
It’s not just the amount of daylight that is changing. The sun itself is also noticeably lower in the sky.
On September 17, the sun’s peak angle over the Jersey Shore is about 21 degrees lower than it was on the summer solstice in June. That lower sun angle means less direct sunlight, longer shadows and earlier sunsets.
And with leaves beginning to change, the signs of fall are becoming harder to miss.
