Somber Equinox Everyone

Today is the last day of the astronomical summer, the equinox. From now on it's autumn: I wanted to wish a happy day, but a day like this can only be somber and melancholic. Sunrise was at 7:05 while sunset is scheduled at 19:17: almost exactly 12 hours.

However...
An interesting side effect of the equinox are the equinox storms: on this day, the sun will be perpendicular at the equator, causing maxiumum heating of the ground - and even more importantly, the sea. This excess heat pumped into the atmosphere will increase the gradient between equator and poles, and thus violent phenomena at medium latitudes. Indeed, the most severe weather events in Italy usually occur in late October-November