SEATTLE — Autumn is all about change and October is usually when we see it the most in western Washington.
Climatologically, October has the biggest change from the start to the end of the month, more than any other month.
Seattle's average high temperature on Oct. 1 is 66 degrees and 56 degrees on Oct. 31, around a 10-degree drop. The average low temperature on Oct. 1 is 51 degrees and 44 degrees on Oct. 31, a decrease of about seven degrees.
According to the National Weather Service Seattle, measurable rainfall has been recorded 28% of the time on Oct. 1 and 54% by Oct. 31.
Seattle loses about 92 minutes of daylight in October, which is over three minutes of daylight lost per day.
September technically has the most daylight lost (only by a couple of minutes). We lose daylight in September and October because of our latitude. It's also due to the tilt of the Earth's axis plus the planet's revolution around the sun. As we approach the spring and autumnal equinox, we have the biggest gain and loss of daylight.
The climatological swing in October is tied to those factors. Shorter days equal less time to warm and longer nights equal more time to cool. Rain wise, the jet stream starts to dip lower in latitude, bringing more systems to the region.
- Oct. 1 sunrise and sunset time: 7:09 a.m. sunrise, 6:47 p.m. sunset - 11 hours, 38 minutes of daylight
- Oct. 31 sunrise and sunset time: 7:53 a.m. sunrise, 5:42 p.m. sunset - 9 hours, 59 minutes of daylight
Daylight Saving Time ends on Nov. 3. Sunrise in Seattle will be at 6:57 a.m. and sunset will be at 4:47 p.m., giving us nine hours and 50 minutes of daylight.
By the winter solstice Dec. 21 we will have about eight hours and 25 minutes of daylight.