How Much Daylight Your City Loses by the Winter Solstice
Between the June 21, 2026 and December 21, 2026 solstices, the American day shrinks by 2h 36m in Honolulu, about 5h 50m in New York, and 13h 52m in Anchorage. Every figure on this page is computed from solar geometry (NOAA algorithms via SunCalc) — find your state on the map or look up your ZIP.
Daylight lost by state, June 21 → December 21, 2026
Shading = hours of daylight the state's largest city loses between the solstices. Dots mark the largest metros plus the Anchorage and Honolulu extremes.
Find your city’s numbers
Enter a ZIP code for the longest day, the shortest day, and the total daylight your city loses between the 2026 solstices.
Solstice day lengths for 15 notable metros
| City | Lost | Jun 21 | Dec 21 | Per day† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage, AK | 13h 52m | 19h 21m | 5h 28m | −5m 39s |
| Seattle, WA | 7h 34m | 15h 59m | 8h 25m | −3m 25s |
| Minneapolis, MN | 6h 51m | 15h 37m | 8h 46m | −3m 7s |
| Boston, MA | 6h 12m | 15h 17m | 9h 5m | −2m 50s |
| Chicago, IL | 6h 6m | 15h 13m | 9h 8m | −2m 47s |
| New York, NY | 5h 50m | 15h 6m | 9h 15m | −2m 41s |
| Denver, CO | 5h 38m | 14h 59m | 9h 21m | −2m 35s |
| Washington, DC | 5h 28m | 14h 54m | 9h 26m | −2m 31s |
| San Francisco, CA | 5h 14m | 14h 47m | 9h 33m | −2m 25s |
| Los Angeles, CA | 4h 33m | 14h 26m | 9h 53m | −2m 7s |
| Atlanta, GA | 4h 30m | 14h 24m | 9h 54m | −2m 5s |
| Phoenix, AZ | 4h 28m | 14h 23m | 9h 55m | −2m 4s |
| Houston, TX | 3h 50m | 14h 4m | 10h 14m | −1m 47s |
| Miami, FL | 3h 13m | 13h 45m | 10h 32m | −1m 30s |
| Honolulu, HI | 2h 36m | 13h 26m | 10h 50m | −1m 13s |
Lost = daylight lost between the longest day (June 21) and the shortest (December 21). †Change in day length per day on September 21, 2026, the day this page was generated (− = losing). All values computed from solar geometry (NOAA algorithms via SunCalc), accurate to about a minute.
The rhythm of the loss
The shrinking isn’t steady. Right after the June solstice a city loses only seconds of daylight a day; the pace builds through July and August and peaks at the September equinox — in New York, from losing 1m 9s a day on July 11 to losing 2m 41s a day on September 22. Then it decelerates again into the December 21, 2026 minimum, after which the whole cycle reverses.
Daylight saving time never changes these numbers — it only relabels the clock. In 2026, US clocks sprang forward on Sunday, March 8, 2026 and fall back on Sunday, November 1, 2026; the post-DST “dark at 5 PM” feeling in November is the clock shift stacked on top of the real astronomical loss mapped above.
Frequently asked
- Which US city loses the most daylight by the winter solstice?
- Anchorage, Alaska: from 19h 21m of daylight on June 21, 2026 down to 5h 28m on December 21, 2026 — a loss of 13h 52m, the largest of any major US city.
- Which US city loses the least daylight?
- Honolulu, Hawaii: its day only shrinks from 13h 26m to 10h 50m — a loss of 2h 36m, because day length varies least near the equator.
- When do the days start getting shorter?
- The day after the June solstice (June 21, 2026). The loss starts at seconds per day, accelerates through summer, and peaks around the September equinox before slowing into the December 21, 2026 solstice.
- How fast are we losing daylight right now?
- As of September 21, 2026, New York is losing 2m 41s a day. Day length changes fastest around the equinoxes (losing 2m 41s a day on September 22, 2026) and slows to seconds a day near the solstices. Higher-latitude cities change faster, lower-latitude cities slower.
- Does daylight saving time change how much daylight there is?
- No — DST only relabels the clock, shifting an hour of light to the evening. In 2026 US clocks went forward on Sunday, March 8, 2026 and fall back on Sunday, November 1, 2026; the amount of daylight is set entirely by latitude and the date.
- When is the winter solstice in 2026?
- December 21, 2026 — the shortest day of the year everywhere in the US, after which daylight starts returning.