Tonight, at 9:19 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, the sun’s rays will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, marking the official start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
It’s also the point at which the sun’s rays are tilted the furthest away from the Northern Hemisphere, meaning that the Northern Hemisphere will experience its shortest day of the calendar year.
That, of course, also means that Denver will experience its shortest day of the year, with only 9 hours, 21 minutes and 16 seconds of sunlight, according to TimeAndDate.com. Denver’s Saturday sunrise is at 7:17 a.m., with a sunset time of 4:38 p.m.
Interestingly, Saturday’s sunrise time isn’t the latest on the calendar (the latest sunrises this winter will take place during the first week of January, at approximately 7:21 a.m.) and Saturday’s sunset isn’t the latest of the year, either (that took place earlier this month). That perhaps slightly surprising alignment is due to the solar noon.
On the positive side, starting on Sunday, every day will get longer and longer for the next 182 days. That will culminate in the June 20 summer solstice, when Denver will get a full 14 hours and 59 minutes of sunlight.
But today, it’s officially Colorado’s shortest day of the year. At least you’re not in Fairbanks, Alaska, where only 3 hours and 41 minutes of sunlight will take place. Or, you could be in Utqiagvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow), where the sun hasn’t risen above the horizon since November 18th, and won’t rise again until January 23rd.
