When Does Summer 2018 End? Facts, Quotes About Fall Equinox

The summer is finally coming to an end Saturday with the autumnal equinox, which marks the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere with the onset of shorter days in the region. Autumn arrives on Saturday at 9:54 p.m. EDT with people in the United States planning getaways with their friends and family before settling in for the new season.

The autumnal equinox — which has roughly an equal amount of nighttime and daytime — marks the official end of summer. However, not every place will experience the exact same amount of daylight. On Saturday, Fairbanks, Alaska, will see 12 hours and 16 minutes of daylight while Key West, Florida, will see 12 hours and seven minutes.

An equinox occurs when the plane of Earth's equator passes through the center of the sun. This event occurs twice per year, the spring equinox in March and the fall equinox in September.

The solstices — one during summer, another during winter — are the counterparts of the equinox. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, while the winter is the shortest day. The astronomical autumn will end Dec. 22 with the winter solstice.

The terms "fall" and "autumn" are used interchangeably, with the latter being more popular among British people. Fall birthstones include sapphire (September), opal and tourmaline (October), and yellow topaz and citrine (November).

Here are some quotes to mark the first day of autumn.

1. "Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple." — J.K. Rowling

2. "The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools." — Henry Beston

3. Autumn wins you best by this, its mute / Appeal to sympathy for its decay.” ― Robert Browning

4. "There is a harmony in autumn, and a lustre in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!" ― Percy Bysshe Shelley

5. “I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.” ― Lee Maynard

6. "The season for enjoying the fullness of life ― partaking of the harvest, sharing the harvest with others, and reinvesting and saving portions of the harvest for yet another season of growth." ― Denis Waitley

7. “Wild is the music of autumnal winds / Amongst the faded woods.” ― William Wordsworth

8. “It’s fall coming, I thought, I can smell that sour-molasses smell of silage, clanging the air like a bell – smell like somebody’s been burning oak leaves, left them to smolder overnight because they’re too green.” ― Ken Kesey