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Winter nights have you feeling blue? Here's when you'll be able to enjoy later sunsets!

Sunset Graphic
Posted at 8:54 AM, Jan 20, 2023
and last updated 2023-01-20 13:24:06-05

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Do the long, cold winter nights have you feeling blue? Have you been missing the sun lately?

KTNV meteorologist Justin Bruce breaks down why the sun is often missing in action in the winter months, as well as which points in the year Las Vegas expects longer days to return!

As we trudge through winter, the first 5:00 p.m. sunset of the year in Las Vegas is Thursday, Jan. 26.

The return of 5:00 p.m. sunsets has been two months in the making; the last time Las Vegas had a sunset after the 4 o'clock hour was Nov. 5, the day before we "fell back" from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.

The latest sunsets of the year in Las Vegas begin on the Summer Solstice on June 21, when the sun doesn't drop below the northwest horizon until 8:01 p.m. Las Vegas sees sunsets around 8:01 p.m. through July 6.

Sunsets before 7:00 p.m. don't happen until early September, and it's mid-October before the sun goes to bed before 6:00 p.m.

After a full year of sunsets, the sun will begin to set at its earliest in Las Vegas from Dec. 3 through 8, around 4:25 p.m., despite the shortest day of the year being the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21.

The cycle of later sunsets repeats again next year, when we "spring forward" on March 12 and the sunset shifts from 5:44 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

For more weather stories, go to ktnv.com/weather.