Unraveling the Science Behind the Seasonal Changes of Fall

[Loren Booda]

For those in the Northern Hemisphere (or the Southern Hemisphere, offset by 6 months), why does Fall feel the way it does?

 

[The Bob]

For those in the Northern Hemisphere (or the Southern Hemisphere, offset by 6 months), why does Fall feel the way it does?

Who has fallen?

The Bob (2004 ©)

 

[chroot]

For those in the Northern Hemisphere (or the Southern Hemisphere, offset by 6 months), why does Fall feel the way it does?

How exactly does fall feel?

- Warren

 

[Loren Booda]

For me, a feeling of melancholy, or motivation like the ant of Aesop fame.

 

[Evo]

I get "frisky" in the Fall. It's my favorite season.

After a miserable hot, humid summer, the cooler air is refreshing. There is less humidity, which means less bad hair days.

The leaves start changing colors. It's the beginning of the holiday season. I don't have to mow or weed whack as often.

I can sleep with the windows open and get fresh air.

 

[Zantra]

I know.. brrr it gets cold. May even drop down into the FIFTIES for a brief period of time at night *shivers*

 

[Gokul43201]

It's already been getting down to the thirties , last two nights. I miss the summer terribly ...but at least there's football in the weekends, so I won't complain so much !

And if I sleep with the windows open, I'll be an icicle by dawn. :zzz:

 

[motai]

I know.. brrr it gets cold. May even drop down into the FIFTIES for a brief period of time at night *shivers*

Very true. When it gets that cold I got to break out some of my sweaters and jackets. At least the water temperature is cooling down slightly so I won't get smacked by another hurricane.

 

[selfAdjoint]

Today in the Fox Valley it was lovely, temperature pushing 70 (Fahrenheit), blue skies, red and yellow and purple leaves on the trees, but many still green. My three mile walk was a delight, after a couple of days of Mut! (cf Die Wintereise).

A few years ago I used to get blue in the Fall, thinking of the Winter ahead. But my women folk convinced me to appreciate Fall for what it is, and that has made a happy difference in my life.

 

[Moonbear]

To me, Fall is cold! It's that horrid transition from beautiful, hot, sunny days when I sleep with the windows open every night (I love fresh air as long as it's warm air!), to starting to batten down the hatches for winter. I actually started seriously contemplating turning the heat on the past few nights. Opted to just turn on a small electric heater in my bedroom so I don't turn into an icicle at night...or worse, get shocked by that first blast of cold air as I climb out from burrow under the blankets. I'm one of those people who sleeps with a comforter on even in 90 degree heat...yet another reason I live alone?

 

[Chrono]

I get "frisky" in the Fall. It's my favorite season.

That's very interesting.

 

[Loren Booda]

My Fall nemesis: raking leaves! I guess I'm old-fashioned - no blower.

It's equivalent to mowing the lawn twice a week for a month. I try to look at it as exercise. Freezing rain I don't need.

 

[Moonbear]

My Fall nemesis: raking leaves! I guess I'm old-fashioned - no blower.

It's equivalent to mowing the lawn twice a week for a month. I try to look at it as exercise. Freezing rain I don't need.

Well, my lawn is still green and growing and the leaves are already falling (darned cicadas aerated the soil, and we got a lot of rain, so the lawn has been far too healthy this summer!) No break between the lawn mowing and leaf-raking for me. At least we don't get too much snow here, so shovelling snow is a much less frequent task. But I prefer lawn-mowing to leaf raking. At least the lawn-mowing is done in warm weather. Nothing worse than damp, chilly days of raking up wet leaves.

 

[Tsu]

For those in the Northern Hemisphere (or the Southern Hemisphere, offset by 6 months), why does Fall feel the way it does?

I think I know what you are talking about Loren, because I can also 'feel' Fall. I think it has a lot to do with the position of the sun and the shadows that they cast and the interaction of the suns rays with the atmospheric conditions. After a hot summer, vegetation is beginning to brown and die back. The ground has dried and is somewhat parched and there is less humidity in the air. Where we live, people being burning yard debris and firing up their woodstoves on cooler nights, so I can frequently smell wood smoke in the air. All of these things together give the air an almost surreal quality... It reminds me of the way artists flock to the Santa Barbara, California area or the south of France because of the 'quality of the light' in these places. I also think (for me, anyway) that it makes me think of the cycle of life and the way everything dies or goes dormant, only to be renewed in the spring with the return of the sun to our hemisphere. I love Fall.

(winter sucks , spring is WONDERFUL and summer is SKI TIME! but Fall is special. )

 

[gazzo]

woohoo spring here nearly summer.

Wallowing in the leaves at the park is always fun during fall.

 

[Monique]

I like fall too, when you notice the days getting shorter.. watchin a movie and snuggling up under a blanket on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate topped with a generous amount of whipped cream

As a kid you'd be anticipating the arrival of Sinterklaas and Santa Claus nostalgia.

 

[Chrono]

As a kid you'd be anticipating the arrival of Sinterklaas and Santa Claus nostalgia.

And you can't sleep the night before they come. And when the morning does come you get up in the wee hours of the morning to see what happened.

 

[check]

To me, Fall has this weird feeling about it... I tend to feel 'it' about a week after the official start of the season.
It's hard to explain how it feels...it's just feels 'different' from a mental perspective, not just the physical changes. All the other seaons have their own feeling about them but to me, fall comes in the fastest and the strongest by far.
I guess I would call it a feeling of.. uncertianty... though that's probably not the best way I could describe it.

 

[Evo]

I like fall too, when you notice the days getting shorter.. watchin a movie and snuggling up under a blanket on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate topped with a generous amount of whipped cream

As a kid you'd be anticipating the arrival of Sinterklaas and Santa Claus nostalgia.

Ooooh, all great things!

For me Fall has such a great feeling. I'm rejuvinated, refreshed, I have more energy, and overall just happier.

It's the beginning of nights in front of the fireplace, bundling up in sweaters, the smell of wood fires, crisp, refreshing air.

 

[Moonbear]

(winter sucks , spring is WONDERFUL and summer is SKI TIME! but Fall is special. )

For me Fall has such a great feeling.

Okay, now I get it...the members of the sisterhood each get a season. Tsunami, as the oldest, presides over all 4 seasons. Evo has Fall. My favorite is Summer! MIH and Recon have to choose between Winter and Spring.

 

[BobG]

I remember when I lived in Nebraska, the winter's were horribly brutal (wind chills 30, 40, 50, occasionally even 60 below zero (F)), spring was a non-stop rain, and summer's intolerably hot and humid with stale air heating up to over a 100 degrees F.

Fall in Nebraska? Definitely the best two weeks of the year.

Colorado has a nice fall, especially the aspens in the mountains, but, Colorado usually has mild weather all the time (except Eastern Colorado, but I think that part of the state is really just parts of Western Nebraska and Western Kansas that they didn't want).