tunes (so lovely)! Here come's the sun! Well, maybe,--but the warmth, not so much yet--frigid single digits, possible extra windy at the end of this week via Artic Express. We might even have a White Christmas Eve/Day! as atmosphere mixes with southern flow. It's always about how it tracks. Better snow than lots of ice! Unfortunately, Winter won't be done here for a few months yet, undoubtedly with a few snow events of larger size.

I always thought shortest day occurs on December 21st.

Should be getting later, with a net loss of time. It’s weird.

This post indicates the sun is setting later. So it appears the day is getting longer. But for total day light hours one needs to take the hour of the sunrise into consideration. Then the hour of sunset. The total time in between is total day light.

This is how it goes,.. as you can see the day is getting shorter until the winter solstice,.. then starts to get longer again after 12/22 - Wednesday of 2022.

12/11 - 9hours-32minutes of daylight
12/15 - 9...........30
12/16 - 9...........30
12/17 - 9...........29
12/18 - 9...........29

Here is another interactive chart with the details of sunrise/sunset info. This one is Farmer's Almanac.

https://www.almanac.com/astronomy/sun-rise-and-set/DC/Washington/2022-12-18

It is the LENGTH of hours of sunshine which determines soltice day, not at what time sun sets.

Brave Helios wake up your steeds.
Bring the warmth the countryside needs.

This post is confusing. It appears by this post the sun is setting later - so the days must be getting longer.

But in reality the sun is rising later in the morning so the total daylight is less until 12/21/2022. Then the days start getting longer again. Until the summer solstice - the longest day of the year - then once again the day gets shorter and shorter.

Sat Dec 3, 2022: Congratulations, DUers in Houston and New Orleans. You've just had the earliest sunset of the year.

Wed Dec 7, 2022: Congratulations, DUers near 40 deg north latitude. You've just had the earliest sunset of the year.

Earliest sunset comes before winter solstice

Posted by Bruce McClure and EarthSky Voices | December 3, 2022



View larger. | The shortest day is at the solstice. But the earliest sunset comes before the solstice, in early to mid-December for latitudes like those in the U.S. Likewise, the latest sunrises come in early January. This map shows the number of days between earliest sunset and latest sunrise, and the dates of the earliest sunsets and latest sunrises themselves, for various latitudes. The dates hold true around the globe. Map via Brian Brettschneider (@Climatologist49 on Twitter, or via Brian B.’s Climate Blog). Used with permission.

Earliest sunset isn’t on the shortest day

For the southernmost U.S. and similar latitudes – around 30 degrees north latitude – the earliest sunsets of the year are happening around now, because they come in late November and early December. For latitudes farther north – around 40 degrees north latitude – the year’s earliest sunsets will happen in the coming week, the week of December 5, 2022. For instance, that would be the latitude of New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Kansas City, Missouri; Denver, Colorado; Reno, Nevada; Beijing, China; Madrid, Spain; and Naples, Italy.

Meanwhile, what about the Southern Hemisphere? At this same time, for 40 degrees south latitude, the year’s earliest sunrises happen this week, as you progress toward your longest day at the December solstice.

Then, closer to the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, the earliest sunset and earliest sunrise happen nearer the solstice.

Want to know the date of your earliest sunset (or sunrise)? Sunrise-sunset.org provides the sunrise/sunset times to the second, for locations around the globe.

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Link to tweet