The earliest sunrise, latest sunrise, earliest sunset and latest sunset are four separate clock-time questions. They do not necessarily occur on the longest or shortest day of the year.
Solar results
Separate day length from the position of the day
Think of daylight as an interval with a beginning, middle and end. Seasonal geometry changes its length, while changes in apparent solar time move its middle relative to the clock. Moving both of those quantities together can shift sunrise and sunset in ways that are not symmetrical.
That is why, in many mid-latitude locations, the earliest sunset precedes the winter solstice and the latest sunrise follows it. Around summer, the earliest sunrise often comes before the solstice and the latest sunset after it. The local pattern and size of the offset vary with latitude.
Find an extreme using the monthly calendar
– Select one location and keep its time zone consistent throughout the comparison. – Inspect dates around the relevant seasonal turning point using Previous and Next. – Compare sunrise values for a morning question and sunset values for an evening question. – Check neighboring dates when several entries display the same minute. – Note whether a daylight-saving change affects the civil-clock comparison.
The calendar lets you inspect times; it does not automatically search the year and return an extreme date. Because clock times are displayed to the minute, several adjacent dates can appear tied even when the underlying calculation differs slightly.
Longitude and clock changes affect interpretation
Within a fixed time zone, longitude shifts the local clock time at which solar events occur. It does not by itself explain the seasonal offset between a solstice and a sunrise or sunset extreme. That offset is tied to the changing relationship between day length and apparent solar time.
Daylight-saving rules add another distinction. The latest sunset on the civil clock can be a different kind of comparison from the latest sunset expressed in standard time throughout the year. State which convention you mean before comparing an annual claim from another source.
High-latitude dates need extra care
A location with midnight sun has a period without daily sunset. A polar-night period may lack sunrise. In those conditions, an earliest or latest event cannot be chosen by treating missing values as midnight or zero.
Read the available event dates and daylight duration together. For background on why the extremes separate, see the U.S. Naval Observatory discussion of sunrise and sunset near the solstices.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the earliest sunset before the shortest day?
In many places, the clock time of solar noon is moving later around that part of the year. That shift can make sunset start moving later while sunrise still moves later by more, allowing total daylight to keep decreasing.
Is the earliest sunrise the same date in every city?
No. Latitude changes the balance between the day-length trend and the shift in solar time. Time conventions and local date boundaries also matter, so compare results for the actual place.
Why do several dates have the same listed sunrise?
Times are rounded for display. A slow seasonal change near an extreme can be smaller than one minute, leaving adjacent dates with identical visible values.
Can I use the annual graph to identify the exact date?
No. It samples daylight on the 15th of each month and does not plot sunrise or sunset clock times. Use the monthly table to inspect the relevant event around the turning point.