Fall officially arrives with autumnal equinox

September 22nd is also known as the autumnal equinox and it's when the sun is directly over the earth's equator. On this day the sun will spend an equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on the earth.

This means that there will be equal days and nights everywhere on earth, 12 hours each, are only one noticeable consequence during the time of equinox, either autumnal or vernal (spring).

Even though Summer has officially ended, temperatures will still be very Summer-like for this first week of Fall.

Daylight at the equinox is slightly longer than the night, partly because the Earth's atmosphere bends sunlight hidden just under the horizon.

At the poles the equinox marks the transition from 24 hours of night to 24 hours of daylight. And at the equator, the equinox marks the moment when the Sun is directly overhead.

"I think it (fall) will be better than the past couple of years, but the next few weeks will be important. The cooling trend we are now experiencing is a good start. If this is followed by a light frost, we could be looking at some nice fall foliage this year," said Dr. Gary Walker, a biology professor at Appalachian State University.