Winter solstice brings Minneapolis fewer than 9 hours of sunlight this Saturday. Here's the upside.
MINNEAPOLIS — Saturday marks the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.
To help you endure the dearth of sunlight, WCCO has put together a guide to the solstice in the Twin Cities, including how short the day will be, when the sun will rise and set and more.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice happens when the sun directly sits over the Tropic of Capricorn, located at 23.5 degrees south of the equator, according to the National Weather Service. It marks the moment when the Earth's northern hemisphere is maximally tilted away from the sun.
When will the winter solstice occur?
This year, the solstice is set to occur at 3:21 a.m. Central time in the Northern Hemisphere.
When will the sun rise and set in the Twin Cities on the day of the solstice?
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, sunrise at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (the weather station representing the Twin Cities' standards and records) on Saturday will occur at 7:46 a.m. The sun will set at 4:36 p.m.
How short will the day of the solstice be?
MSP will see eight hours and 50 minutes of sunlight, per the almanac. By Christmas Day, we'll add another minute of sunlight, and the days will only get longer from there, until we reach peak sunlight on the summer solstice. That will happen on June 20, 2025.
Will this be the latest sunrise and earliest sunset of the year?
If there's a bright side to the darkest day of the year, MSP Airport has already seen its earliest sunsets of the year — those occurred earlier this month. From Dec. 4 through Dec. 14, the sun set at 4:33 p.m. — three minutes earlier than the sunset following the solstice.
Our latest sunrises are ahead of us. For the last few days of 2024, the sun will rise at 7:48 a.m. in Minneapolis, about two minutes later than sunrise on the solstice.
