Although winter hasn't officially begun, Chicago's early sunsets and late sunrises sure make things feel like it has. And this week, the area will see its earliest sunset of the year.
While the day with the least amount of sunlight won't occur until the winter solstice, which occurs on Dec. 21, the day with the earliest sunset of the year will occur two weeks before that, according to astronomers.
This year, that date falls on Dec. 8, when the sun will go down at exactly 4:21 p.m., according to the website Sunrise-Sunset. After that, sunset will slowly begin to occur later, taking eight full days to gain an extra minute.
The winter solstice will take place on Dec. 21 just before 4 p.m., according to officials. That date marks the “shortest day” of the year, meaning that the region will see its lowest amount of sunlight for the season, clocking in just under nine hours and 11 minutes.
From there, the days will slowly begin to get longer, but we won't get over 10 hours of sunlight again until Jan. 30, according to Sunrise-Sunset.
Even after the solstice, sunrise will continue occurring later in the morning until Jan. 3, when the sun will come up at approximately 7:16 a.m. Later sunsets will help to offset that change, meaning that the city will see incrementally-more sunshine total each day even as sunrise occurs later and later.
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