First Alert Weather In-Depth: The dark, dreary days of Western New York

Glenn Johnson News10NBC

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Unfortunately, astronomy is working against us. You probably already know the sun angle is getting lower and lower in the sky. On September 22nd we had a little over 12 hours of possible daylight, but most importantly the sun angle was at 52 degrees.  However, as we go through the first day of winter (which is coming up in just two weeks) the angle decreases to 23 degrees. As a result, on that day we receive less than nine hours of daylight.

In addition, the decreasing sun angle is all important with the amount of cloud cover Western New York has for this time of the year. That lower sun angle contributes to the visible light actually reflecting off the top of the clouds. So that visible light is not reaching the surface of the earth.

So we are stuck with the dark, dreary weather for now.  But there is a positive side to this negative weather.  After December 21st the amount of daylight starts to increase again. So it is only a matter of time with brighter skies ahead!

Unfortunately, astronomy is working against us. You probably already know the sun angle is getting lower and lower in the sky. On September 22nd we had a little over 12 hours of possible daylight, but most importantly the sun angle was at 52 degrees.  However, as we go through the first day of winter (which is coming up in just two weeks) the angle decreases to 23 degrees. As a result, on that day we receive less than nine hours of daylight.