Today's Weather

[jgsz]

Not about the weather per se but does anyone know the when the sun sets the earliest?  Today the sun sets at 4:46 PM.  From my observations, I think the earliest sunset is 4:45 or 4:44 PM and that happens on or around December 8.  

I’m asking because I dislike short days and because I always thought it would be December 21.  Apparently that’s not so.

[robdrimmie]

I don't know for certain, but I was able to find:

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/waterloo

Which has a chart which suggests that from the 6th through 12th (inclusive) the sun will be setting at 4:45pm, and after the 12th it starts going later again.

Edit to add: If the chart is correct, the 21st and 22nd are still the shortest days. The difference in sun rise times is greater than the difference in sun set times.

[jgsz]

I don't know for certain, but I was able to find:

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/waterloo

Which has a chart which suggests that from the 6th through 12th (inclusive) the sun will be setting at 4:45pm, and after the 12th it starts going later again.

Edit to add: If the chart is correct, the 21st and 22nd are still the shortest days. The difference in sun rise times is greater than the difference in sun set times.

Thanks for the link!  It’s a very useful site.

 I noticed that the sun continues to rise later for many days after December 21.

[robdrimmie]

Yeah, it's really neat, I'm glad you asked the question. I just always thought that sun rise and sun set time closed in on each other in equal ways, I didn't realize how much variance there was.

[Rainrider22]

I always look forward to December 21 recognizing that the days are starting to get longer.... I find it encouraging..

[plam]

Yes, I realized this a few years ago. For me the effective shortest day is coming soon, since the time of sunrise doesn't really affect me, only sunset. Which is also why I'm all for Daylight Savings Time.

[tomh009]

Yes, I realized this a few years ago. For me the effective shortest day is coming soon, since the time of sunrise doesn't really affect me, only sunset. Which is also why I'm all for Daylight Savings Time.

Some of us do appreciate the early daylight! I'm usually up around 6 AM and it sure is nicer having some daylight early. Whereas in the late afternoon I'm at work, and it doesn't make a big difference for me whether the sun sets at 4:45 PM or 5;45 PM.

[jeffster]

Yes, I realized this a few years ago. For me the effective shortest day is coming soon, since the time of sunrise doesn't really affect me, only sunset. Which is also why I'm all for Daylight Savings Time.

Some of us do appreciate the early daylight! I'm usually up around 6 AM and it sure is nicer having some daylight early. Whereas in the late afternoon I'm at work, and it doesn't make a big difference for me whether the sun sets at 4:45 PM or 5;45 PM.

I think we should write to our government and demand a minimum of 11 hours of daylight every day -- none of this 9 hours that we suffer with 2 months of the year.

[robdrimmie]

Some of us do appreciate the early daylight! I'm usually up around 6 AM and it sure is nicer having some daylight early. Whereas in the late afternoon I'm at work, and it doesn't make a big difference for me whether the sun sets at 4:45 PM or 5;45 PM.

I think we should write to our government and demand a minimum of 11 hours of daylight every day -- none of this 9 hours that we suffer with 2 months of the year.

It's just about time for the annual article advocating making Turks and Caicos a territory, perhaps this is the push needed 

[jamincan]

Yes, I realized this a few years ago. For me the effective shortest day is coming soon, since the time of sunrise doesn't really affect me, only sunset. Which is also why I'm all for Daylight Savings Time.

Some of us do appreciate the early daylight! I'm usually up around 6 AM and it sure is nicer having some daylight early. Whereas in the late afternoon I'm at work, and it doesn't make a big difference for me whether the sun sets at 4:45 PM or 5;45 PM.

I'm the exact opposite. I leave for work at 6am and I'm already at work before the sun rises. If it rises an hour later, no big deal. As it stands right now, the sun is typically setting as I drive home, so I have the rather unpleasant situation of living with almost no sun at all for a fair length of the year.

[jgsz]

I think we should write to our government and demand a minimum of 11 hours of daylight every day -- none of this 9 hours that we suffer with 2 months of the year.

It's just about time for the annual article advocating making Turks and Caicos a territory, perhaps this is the push needed   

I would be concerned about colonization but if the citizens of Turks and Caicos wanted to be a province of Canada I would be thrilled.

[panamaniac]

It's just about time for the annual article advocating making Turks and Caicos a territory, perhaps this is the push needed   

I would be concerned about colonization but if the citizens of Turks and Caicos wanted to be a province of Canada I would be thrilled.

A municipality of Nova Scotia or a territory, at most.   It has under 30,000 citizens.

[jeffster]

Not about the weather per se but does anyone know the when the sun sets the earliest?  Today the sun sets at 4:46 PM.  From my observations, I think the earliest sunset is 4:45 or 4:44 PM and that happens on or around December 8.  

I’m asking because I dislike short days and because I always thought it would be December 21.  Apparently that’s not so.

Interesting fact: The sun sets at 4:45 on December 8, and this is the earliest it sets until December 14, when it starts setting later in the day. The sun continues to set later in the day until June 19, and stays that way until July 3rd, when it starts setting earlier. The means the sun set later in the day for over 6 months. On the other hand, sunrise is at 7:54 December 28th, the latest it will be, and stays there until it starts rising earlier starting January 10. It continues to rise earlier for only 5 months, as June 10th is the earliest rise that it has, and it starts rise later in the day starting June 19.

There is a lot of math involved on why this is the way that it is. But sunrise and sunset are not totally related in terms of their times be consistent to each other.

[jeffster]

Another interesting thing: We're losing daylight. Over the past 100 years, are longest day has gone from 15:25:09 to 15:25:03 - a loss of 6 seconds.

Over the past hundreds of years, summer and winter have also shifted 10 days.

[tomh009]

I would be concerned about colonization but if the citizens of Turks and Caicos wanted to be a province of Canada I would be thrilled.

A municipality of Nova Scotia or a territory, at most.   It has under 30,000 citizens.

That's roughly the same as Yukon or Nunavut. A slightly smaller area, though.