The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

When daylight saving time goes too far

It's getting on toward 7:30 in Chicago, and the sun still hasn't risen yet. We return to standard time tonight, meaning the sun will rise at 6:30 tomorrow. Today, however, will be the latest sunrise in Chicago (and in the rest of those parts of the U.S. that observe daylight saving time) until 2021.

What's wrong with the last weekend in October? Or, as they do in parts of Europe, the last weekend in September? The "extra" hour of daylight in the evening has to come from somewhere. I, for one, prefer staying out after dark to waking up before dawn.

Chicago sunrise chart, 2010-2011

It's time for the semi-annual update of the Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.) I'm a little late with the mid-year update because I've been a little busy. You haven't missed much—and anyway, they overlap.

An interesting note about 2010: the sunset on November 6th will be the latest sunrise in Chicago (7:30am) until 2021—and that, only within 4 seconds of precision.

Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight
2010
2 Jul 8:30pm sunset 05:20 20:30 15:10
17 Jul 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:23 14:52
9 Aug 8pm sunset 05:53 20:00 14:06
16 Aug 6am sunrise 06:00 19:50 13:49
29 Aug 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:29 13:16
14 Sep 6:30am sunrise 06:30 19:02 12:31
15 Sep 7pm sunset 06:31 19:00 12:29
22 Sep Equinox, 22:09 CDT 06:38 18:48 12:10
25 Sep 12-hour day 06:41 18:43 12:00
3 Oct 6:30pm sunset 06:50 18:29 11:39
12 Oct 7am sunrise 07:00 18:14 11:14
21 Oct 6pm sunset 07:10 18:00 10:50
6 Nov Latest sunrise until 6 Nov 2021
Latest sunset until Feb 28th
07:30 17:39 10:09
7 Nov Standard time returns
Earliest sunrise until Mar 3rd
06:31 16:38 10:07
15 Nov 4:30pm sunset 06:40 16:30 9:49
2 Dec 7am sunrise 07:00 16:20 9:20
8 Dec Earliest sunset of the year 07:06 16:20 9:14
21 Dec Solstice, 17:38 CST 07:15 16:23 9:08
2011
3 Jan Latest sunrise until Oct. 29th 07:19 16:32 9:13
27 Jan 5pm sunset 07:08 17:00 9:51
5 Feb 7am sunrise 07:00 17:11 10:11
20 Feb 5:30pm sunset 06:40 17:30 10:50
27 Feb 6:30am sunrise 06:29 17:39 11:09
12 Mar Earliest sunrise until Apr. 17th
Earliest sunset until Oct. 26th
06:08 17:54 11:45
13 Mar Daylight savings time begins
Latest sunrise until Oct. 19th
Earliest sunset until Sept. 19th
07:07 18:55 11:48
17 Mar 7am sunrise, 7pm sunset
12-hour day
07:00 19:00 12:00
20 Mar Equinox 18:21 CDT 06:55 19:03 12:08
4 Apr 6:30am sunrise (again) 06:29 19:20 12:50
13 Apr 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:30 13:15
22 Apr 6am sunrise 06:00 19:40 13:39
11 May 8pm sunset 05:35 20:00 14:25
16 May 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:05 14:35
15 Jun Earliest sunrise of the year 05:15 20:28 15:13
21 Jun Solstice 12:16 CDT
8:30pm sunset
05:16 20:30 15:14
27 Jun Latest sunset of the year 05:18 20:31 15:13

You can get sunrise information for your location at wx-now.com.

Raleigh, N.C., sunrise chart for 2010

Since I'm spending so much time here, I thought I should do a Raleigh sunrise chart to complement the one for Chicago. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.)

An interesting note about 2010: the sunset on November 6th will be the latest sunrise for most places in the U.S. (7:43 am in Raliegh) until 2021.

Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight
2010
6 Jan Latest sunrise until Mar. 14th 07:26 17:17 9:50
20 Jan 5:30pm sunset 07:23 17:30 10:07
17 Feb 7am sunrise 07:00 17:59 10:59
18 Feb 6pm sunset 06:59 18:00 11:00
12 Mar 6:30am sunrise 06:30 18:20 11:49
13 Mar Earliest sunrise until Apr. 26th
Earliest sunset until Oct. 31st
06:29 18:21 11:52
14 Mar Daylight savings time begins
Latest sunrise until Oct. 22nd
Earliest sunset until Sept. 16th
07:28 19:22 11:54
17 Mar 12-hour day 07:24 19:25 12:01
20 Mar Equinox 13:32 EDT 07:19 19:27 12:08
23 Mar 7:30pm sunset 07:15 19:30 12:15
3 Apr 7am sunrise 06:59 19:39 12:40
25 Apr 6:30am sunrise 06:30 19:57 13:27
28 Apr 8pm sunset 06:27 20:00 13:33
3 Jun 6am sunrise 06:00 20:27 14:27
7 Jun 8:30pm sunset 05:59 20:30 14:31
12 Jun Earliest sunrise of the year 05:58 20:33 14:34
21 Jun Solstice 07:28 EDT 05:59 20:35 14:35
24 Jun 6am sunrise 06:00 20:35 14:35
28 Jun Latest sunset of the year 06:01 20:36 14:34
19 Jul 8:30pm sunset 06:13 20:30 14:16
10 Aug 6:30am sunrise 06:30 20:11 13:39
20 Aug 8pm sunset 06:38 20:00 13:21
10 Sep 7:30pm sunset 06:54 19:30 12:36
18 Sep 7am sunrise 07:00 19:18 12:18
22 Sep Equinox, 23:09 EDT 07:03 19:13 12:10
26 Sep 12-hour day 07:07 19:07 12:00
1 Oct 7pm sunset 07:10 18:59 11:48
23 Oct 6:30pm sunset 07:29 18:30 11:00
24 Oct 7:30am sunrise 07:30 18:29 10:58
6 Nov Latest sunrise until 6 Nov 2021
Latest sunset until Mar 7th
07:43 18:15 10:32
7 Nov Standard time returns
Earliest sunrise until Mar 3rd
06:44 17:14 10:30
23 Nov 7am sunrise 07:00 17:04 10:04
5 Dec Earliest sunset of the year 07:11 17:02 9:51
21 Dec Solstice, 18:38 EST 07:22 17:05 9:43

You can get sunrise information for your location at wx-now.com.

Once in a blue moon

...could be today, depending on which competing definition you use:

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon." Different definitions place the "extra" moon at different times.

  • In calculating the dates for Lent and Easter, the Clergy identify the Lent Moon. It is thought that historically when the moon's timing was too early, they named an earlier moon as a "betrayer moon" (belewe moon), thus the Lent moon came at its expected time.
  • Folklore gave each moon a name according to its time of year. A moon which came too early had no folk name – and was called a blue moon – bringing the correct seasonal timings for future moons.
  • The Farmers' Almanac defined blue moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season; one season was normally three full moons. If a season had four full moons, then the third full moon was named a blue moon.
  • Recent popular usage defined a blue moon as the second full moon in a calendar month, stemming from an interpretation error made in 1946 that was discovered in 1999. For example, December 31, 2009 would be a blue moon according to this usage.

So, it's possible today's full moon is a blue moon. Or it's possible the next blue moon will occur November 21st. Or after some volcanic eruption which hasn't happened yet.

Regardless, enjoy it if you can. It only happens...infrequently.

Chicago sunrise chart, 2010

It's time for the semi-annual update of the Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.)

An interesting note about 2010: the sunset on November 6th will be the latest sunrise in Chicago (7:30am) until 2021—and that, only within 4 seconds of precision.

Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight
2010
3 Jan Latest sunrise until Oct. 29th 07:19 16:33 9:14
27 Jan 5pm sunset 07:08 17:00 9:51
4 Feb 7am sunrise 07:00 17:10 10:09
20 Feb 5:30pm sunset 06:39 17:30 10:50
27 Feb 6:30am sunrise 06:29 17:39 11:09
13 Mar Earliest sunrise until Apr. 18th
Earliest sunset until Oct. 25th
06:06 17:55 11:49
14 Mar Daylight savings time begins
Latest sunrise until Oct. 17th
Earliest sunset until Sept. 18th
07:04 18:56 11:52
17 Mar 7am sunrise, 7pm sunset
12-hour day
06:59 19:00 12:00
20 Mar Equinox 12:32 CDT 06:54 19:04 12:09
3 Apr 6:30am sunrise (again) 06:30 19:19 12:48
13 Apr 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:30 13:16
22 Apr 6am sunrise 06:00 19:40 13:40
11 May 8pm sunset 05:35 20:01 14:25
16 May 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:06 14:35
14 Jun Earliest sunrise of the year 05:15 20:28 15:12
21 Jun Solstice 06:28 CDT
8:30pm sunset
05:16 20:30 15:14
27 Jun Latest sunset of the year 05:18 20:31 15:12
2 Jul 8:30pm sunset 05:20 20:30 15:10
17 Jul 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:23 14:52
9 Aug 8pm sunset 05:53 20:00 14:06
16 Aug 6am sunrise 06:00 19:50 13:49
29 Aug 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:29 13:16
14 Sep 6:30am sunrise 06:30 19:02 12:31
15 Sep 7pm sunset 06:31 19:00 12:29
22 Sep Equinox, 22:09 CDT 06:38 18:48 12:10
25 Sep 12-hour day 06:41 18:43 12:00
3 Oct 6:30pm sunset 06:50 18:29 11:39
12 Oct 7am sunrise 07:00 18:14 11:14
21 Oct 6pm sunset 07:10 18:00 10:50
6 Nov Latest sunrise until 6 Nov 2021
Latest sunset until Feb 28th
07:30 17:39 10:09
7 Nov Standard time returns
Earliest sunrise until Mar 3rd
06:31 16:38 10:07
15 Nov 4:30pm sunset 06:40 16:30 9:49
2 Dec 7am sunrise 07:00 16:20 9:20
8 Dec Earliest sunset of the year 07:06 16:20 9:14
21 Dec Solstice, 17:38 CST 07:15 16:23 9:08

You can get sunrise information for your location at wx-now.com.

Full of sound and fury signifying...what, exactly?

A number of confusing changes occurred to the world while I slept:

  • President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. I love the man; I voted for him; I gave lots of money[1] to two of his campaigns. I'm still confused. It might offend some of my fellow progressives to say, but possibly the prize means nothing more than "thank you for not being like the last guy, and keep up the good work." The President is, in fact, the second person who is not George W. Bush to win the Prize in the last four years.
  • For reasons which passeth all understanding[2], we crashed a rocket into the moon. We want to find out if the moon has enough water to make long-term habitation possible. Otherwise, we'll have to build a pipeline from the Great Lakes, which poses certain engineering challenges.
  • Both of these stories came to me during WBEZ-Chicago's pledge week, which started yesterday. Please, I beg all my readers in Chicago, please make a donation so they'll stop begging. The only glimmer of good news in the timing of the Fall pledge drive comes in the form of an exquisite torture perpetrated upon me and my 118 classmates by Fuqua. I won't be able to listen to much NPR this weekend because:
  • I have two final exams due this weekend, both take-home, one 90 minutes long and the other with 24 hours to complete. (The clock starts when we download the exams from the school's web portal.) The professor for exam #1 says it's relatively straightforward, everyone will pass, don't worry. The professor for exam #2, who served six years on the Financial Accounting Standards Board and who drafted important regulations of the accounting profession itself, says "someone who is reasonably prepared and who doesn't need to use notes should be able to complete it in 4 or 5 hours." So, a former FASB member who's taught accounting for 30 years will find it "challenging." One hundred eighteen people started crying. (One dude in our class is an accountant who got 117 out of 120 on the midterm.)
  • The U.S. dollar continues to slide slowly into uncomfortable depths. I got an alert while writing this entry that the Canadian dollar has risen against our currency from a low of 76c in March to 95c today. We're also slipping against the Euro and the Yen, but not, I'm happy to say, against Sterling or the Emirati Dirham, the two currencies I'm concerned about in the next few weeks.[3]
  • Finally, a dear friend from North Carolina sent a delightful finals-weekend care package to Parker and me, including doggie fortune cookies and human chocolate-chip cookies. And now Parker has the whole world in his paws (see below).

[1] Lots for me, anyway; NPR wouldn't have given me a mug for the amount I gave.

[2] Aaron Sorkin's favorite phrase, from Phillippans 4:7. Yes, athiests quote Bible verses sometimes.

[3] I'm concerned because I'm about to go to Dubai, via London, for school. The Dirham hasn't changed because it's pegged to the dollar...for now.

Chicago sunrises and sunsets, 2009-2010

It's time for the semi-annual update of the Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.)

Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight
2009
2 Jul 8:30pm sunset 05:20 20:30 15:10
16 Jul 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:24 14:54
9 Aug 8pm sunset 05:53 19:59 14:06
16 Aug 6am sunrise 06:00 19:50 13:49
29 Aug 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:29 13:16
14 Sep 6:30am sunrise 06:30 19:02 12:31
15 Sep 7pm sunset 06:31 19:00 12:29
22 Sep Equinox, 16:18 CDT 06:38 18:48 12:09
25 Sep 12-hour day 06:42 18:43 12:01
3 Oct 6:30pm sunset 06:50 18:29 11:39
12 Oct 7am sunrise 07:00 18:14 11:14
21 Oct 6pm sunset 07:10 18:00 10:50
31 Oct Latest sunrise until 1 Nov. 2010
Latest sunset until Mar 6th
07:23 17:46 10:24
1 Nov Standard time returns
Earliest sunrise until Mar 3rd
06:24 16:45 10:21
6 Nov 6:30am sunrise (again) 06:30 16:39 10:08
15 Nov 4:30pm sunset 06:41 16:30 9:48
2 Dec 7am sunrise 07:00 16:21 9:20
8 Dec Earliest sunset of the year 07:06 16:20 9:14
21 Dec Solstice, 11:47 CST 07:15 16:23 9:08
2010
3 Jan Latest sunrise until Oct. 29th 07:19 16:33 9:14
27 Jan 5pm sunset 07:08 17:00 9:51
4 Feb 7am sunrise 07:00 17:10 10:09
20 Feb 5:30pm sunset 06:39 17:30 10:50
27 Feb 6:30am sunrise 06:29 17:39 11:09
13 Mar Earliest sunrise until Apr. 18th
Earliest sunset until Oct. 25th
06:06 17:55 11:49
14 Mar Daylight savings time begins
Latest sunrise until Oct. 17th
Earliest sunset until Sept. 18th
07:04 18:56 11:52
17 Mar 7am sunrise, 7pm sunset
12-hour day
06:59 19:00 12:00
20 Mar Equinox 12:32 CDT 06:54 19:04 12:09
3 Apr 6:30am sunrise (again) 06:30 19:19 12:48
13 Apr 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:30 13:16
22 Apr 6am sunrise 06:00 19:40 13:40
11 May 8pm sunset 05:35 20:01 14:25
16 May 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:06 14:35
14 Jun Earliest sunrise of the year 05:15 20:28 15:12
21 Jun Solstice 06:28 CDT
8:30pm sunset
05:16 20:30 15:14
27 Jun Latest sunset of the year 05:18 20:31 15:12

You can get sunrise information for your location at wx-now.com.

A tease of spring

Spring officially begins Friday at 6:44 CDT, but today we're getting a little hint of it. Right now it's 19°C in Chicago; if it can squeak up to 22°C it will be the warmest day since October 12th.

Another trivial tidbit: because the earth's atmosphere bends the sun's rays a little, today, and not the official equinox Friday, is the day when we have 12 hours of daylight. From tomorrow until September 25th, days are longer than nights just about everywhere between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle.

Update, 14:05 CDT: Yep, we just hit 22°C, warmest temperature in Chicago for 156 days. Why am I inside?