SPOKANE, Wash. — April 29 will bring the first sunset in the Spokane area that comes during the 8 p.m. hour since the year began.
As we move away from the winter solstice and toward the summer solstice, we steadily gain about two minutes of daylight each day. The additional daylight has pushed us away from sunsets in the 7 o'clock hour and moved us toward sunsets in the 8 o'clock hour.
On Wednesday, April 29, the sun will set about a minute after 8 p.m.
As we continue to gain daylight, our sunsets will move later into the hour until the summer solstice on June 21. By then, we will see the sun set around 8:51 p.m.
Although there is a long way to go on day-length growth, we've long passed the first barrier of sunsets in the 3 and 4 p.m. hours. Those came during December and January during the winter solstice, the shortest days for the Northern Hemisphere.
We'll also see earlier sunrises in the Spokane area as the next several months come around. By the summer solstice, we will see the sun rise in the 4 o'clock hour at 4:51 a.m. instead of our current sunrise around in the 5 a.m. hour.
This will give us an eventual day-length of about 16 hours by the summer solstice, although our Wednesday day-length is only at about 14 hours and 19 minutes.