Equinox arrives today at 2:19 PM — but day and night are not equal
Is day and night equal length at the equinox?
The equinox name suggests equal day and night, but light bending through the atmosphere means Columbus gets twelve hours and nine minutes of daylight today, not twelve hours exactly.
Forecast cloud cover across the Southeast. Map: CNAW 2, built from NOAA data on a USGS base.
The September equinox arrives this afternoon at 2:19 PM, marking the astronomical start of fall. The name suggests day and night will be equal length, but that is not quite what happens here.
Today Columbus gets twelve hours and nine minutes of daylight, not twelve hours even. The sun's light bends as it passes through the atmosphere near the horizon, making sunrise happen earlier and sunset later than geometry alone would predict. Equal day and night actually falls a few days after the equinox date.
Starting now, the region loses two minutes of daylight each day. By the time winter arrives, Columbus will be losing daylight at a slower rate, but the trend continues all the way to the winter solstice in December.
Right now in Columbus, Georgia
77°Temperature
73°Dew point
87%Humidity
2 mphWind — northeast
29.97"Pressure
The next seven days
Day
High
Low
Rain
Conditions
TODAY
94°
71°
27%
Patchy Fog then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
WED
91°
69°
24%
Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
THU
84°
63°
22%
Slight Chance Rain Showers then Mostly Sunny
FRI
86°
63°
1%
Mostly Sunny
SAT
87°
61°
1%
Sunny
SUN
87°
61°
3%
Mostly Sunny
MON
89°
62°
5%
Mostly Sunny
Written by the CNAW 2 weather desk from CNAW 2 weather desk data. Last updated September 22, 2026 at 9:57 AM Eastern. Covering Columbus and Phenix City, Auburn–Opelika, LaGrange, Eufaula and the rest of the 19-county CNAW viewing area.
