The Sun Is Setting Later, But The Days Are Still Getting Shorter. How Can ...

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The winter solstice, which occurs on Dec. 21 or Dec. 22 each year in the Northern Hemisphere, is the first astronomical day of winter and the shortest day of the year.

However, that doesn’t mean it gets dark the earliest on the winter solstice.

In fact, starting last week, the sun began setting later and later across most of the contiguous U.S., including here in Charlotte, as I’ve stated on the WBTV morning news this week.

You may wonder how days can still be getting shorter through the winter solstice - which occurs on Tuesday, Dec. 21 this year - if the sun is starting to set later in the day? It’s because the sun also rises later in the mornings through the winter solstice, and the rate at which sunrise times are becoming later is higher than the rate at which sunset times are becoming later.

Looking at Charlotte, for example, the time of sunrise gets pushed back 15 minutes from 7:13 a.m. on Dec. 1 to 7:28 a.m. on Dec. 21. The time of sunset, however, only changes by four minutes, going from 5:11 p.m. on Dec. 1 to 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 21.

After the winter solstice, the opposite occurs, with the rate at which sunset times become later in the day being higher than the rate at which the sunrise time becomes later in the day. As a result, the overall length of days (available daylight) increases.

During the middle part of January, the sun will start rising earlier in the mornings, allowing the days to become even longer.

The winter solstice happens when the Earth’s axis is tilted the farthest away from the sun. This year, that will occur at 10:59 a.m. EST on Dec. 21.

Meteorologist Al Conklin