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The autumn equinox was at 6:30 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, meaning there are nearly equal periods of daylight and darkness. From now until the winter solstice in December, days will gradually get shorter and nights will get longer in the Northern Hemisphere.

That’s good news and bad news for fire-scorched California.

The good news is that as the Northern Hemisphere tilts farther from the sun, the sun’s rays are less direct, and cooler daytime temperatures result, along with cooler nights. The arrival of the rainy season is usually in about November.

The bad news is that October to November are the peak months for the Santa Ana winds. These strong, often hot, downslope winds can lower humidity to single digits and cause extremely dangerous fire weather conditions.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.