NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The next few months in terms of daylight are arguably one of the hardest times of the year because darkness happens sooner than you think! As of September 1, 2022, sunset is happening about 1-2 minutes sooner each day. On a small scale, that’s minimal. However on a bigger scale (looking at a month or two), the quicker loss of daylight is impactful to your evening.

Looking back at the summer, we had our latest sunsets from June 23 through July 3 (after 8 PM). After that, the sun started to set by about 1 minute earlier every 2-3 days, increasing to 1 minute every other day to end July, and a daily one minute drop from July 31 through late November.

Looking at September, the first day of the month’s sunset is shortly after 7 PM. But by the end of September, it will drop to around 6:30 PM. Then by October 31, sunset is before 6 PM! A nearly 80 minute drop in a two month span.

This decreasing daylight leads to the debatable time change that happens on Sunday, November 6. Starting that day, the sun will set before 5 PM. This will begin our earliest sunsets through mid-December. To see the specific sunrise & sunset time for your location, visit the NOAA website.

The decreasing daylight has to do with the sun angle that is responsible for our four seasons. In the summer, the sun angle is at the highest point and heats up a larger area. The opposite is true as the winter, a lower sun angle translates to cooler temperatures.

The sun is not able to heat the entire earth equally. This explains why there are large global temperature differences between land and water. This difference creates an imbalance, thus creating our weather we see everyday.