Today is the winter solstice — the shortest day of the year.
Day length varies by latitude on this day. In Anchorage, the sun rises at 10:14 a.m. and sets about 5 1/2 hours later at 3:42 p.m.
The winter solstice is an exciting day for many in Alaska as it marks the last day of losing daylight. Thursday, we’ll gain 11 seconds in Anchorage and by late January we’re up to an extra five minutes of daylight per day. The daylight really begins to add up as we get closer to the spring equinox in March. By May, Anchorage will experience 24 hours of daylight, or continuous twilight.
The summer solstice will occur on June 20, 2017, when daylight peaks in Anchorage at 19 hours and 21 minutes.
The next two or three weeks will not make much apparent difference in the length of the daylight hours. But sometime in mid-January, we'll realize with pleasure that the days are noticeably longer.
Then they just keep getting longer (at peak acceleration, so to speak) at the rate of some 5 minutes and 42 seconds until the summer solstice approaches, when the acceleration slows. Then we'll have about six weeks when it never really gets dark.
Sometimes it's downright fun to be an Alaskan, and this still fascinates us ... even after nearly 15 years up here. :)
