Earlier sunsets and shorter daylight hours in Chicago area as fall approaches – NBC Chicago

The frost of change is in the air in the Chicago area this week, but cooler temperatures aren’t the only milestones the region is reaching as fall approaches.

The autumn equinox will occur on Sunday, September 22nd at approximately 7:44 a.m., but in the Chicago area there will be many more daylight-related milestones before and after that date.

While most residents would assume that the city would have about 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night on the autumn equinox, that’s not quite true. According to TimeandDate, the first day with fewer than 12 hours of daylight will actually not occur until three days later, on September 25.

For daylight lovers, it will be almost six months before there are 12 hours of sunlight again; that date will be March 17, 2025.

Another important milestone on the road to fall will be reached on Sunday, September 15. That day will be the first time the sun has set before 7 p.m. since March 16, with the sun setting at 6:58 p.m. that day.

For the rest of the month, Chicago loses just under three minutes of daylight per day, with the sun setting shortly after 6:30 p.m. in late September.

The next milestone will be reached on October 21, when the sun will set below the horizon in the city before 6 p.m. and from that point on we will have less than 11 hours of daylight per day.

These reductions will continue unabated through December, when the city will have just over nine hours of daylight. The earliest sunset of the year will be in early December, with the sun setting around 4:19 p.m.

After the winter solstice, the region will slowly see more daylight, but will only increase by a few seconds per day until the end of 2024.