WASHINGTON — Sunset in the nation’s capital happened at 6:25 p.m. Thursday. That means if you left work after 6:30 p.m. you didn't make it home before nightfall.
Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 3, when time “falls back” and clocks are turned back an hour. So, sunset on Nov. 3 will occur at 5:04 p.m. Since sunrise also occurs earlier on November 3 than on Nov. 2 (6:38 a.m. vs. 7:37 a.m.), there will be less sunlight during the first weekend of November.
If you leave work at 5 p.m., the last time you’ll be able to do that before sunset in the nation’s capital is on Nov. 7. Sunrise on Nov. 7 occurs at 6:42 a.m., giving DC residents only 10 hours and 18 minutes of daylight.
The earliest sunset time in the nation’s capital will be 4:45 p.m. from Dec. 4 through Dec. 9. Sunrise on Dec. 9 is at 7:15 a.m., giving Washingtonians nine hours and 30 minutes of sunlight.
However, the shortest day of the year doesn’t occur until the winter solstice on Dec. 21. Although sunset on Dec. 21 occurs at 4:49 p.m., sunrise occurs at 7:23 a.m. giving DC residents nine hours and 26 minutes of sunlight, or nearly four minutes less than on Dec. 9.
The amount of daylight will continue to decrease in the Northern Hemisphere every day until the winter solstice on Dec. 21. That’s the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s when the path of the sun is the farthest south and areas, "outside of the tropics experience the least amount of daylight- and the longest night – of the year,” according to NASA.
The amount of daylight will gradually start to increase on Dec. 22 until the summer solstice occurs again on June 20, 2025.
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