Apr 16, 2025 - News

Seattle sunsets stretch past 8pm

Christine Clarridge

A sailboat on Elliott Bay in Seattle at sunset. — There's few better seats than on a sailboat on Elliott Bay as Seattle's later sunsets return. Photo: Yuanyuan Xie/Getty Images

Seattleites, rejoice: Wednesday marks the city's first post-8pm sunset of 2025, a welcome milestone after a typical Pacific Northwest winter.

Why it matters: For sun-deprived locals, more evening light feels like the unofficial start to outdoor season with evening strolls, late pickleball games, and a chance to linger over drinks on a deck.

The big picture: Seattle's sunlit hours have been increasing steadily since the winter solstice, when we got 8.5 hours of daily light.

On June 20, the sun will set around 9:10pm, giving Seattle around 16 hours of daylight.
Civil twilight, when the sky actually gets dark, occurs around 10pm on the longest day of the year.

The bottom line: Soak it up now before we all start complaining it's too hot.

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Seattle sunsets stretch past 8pm

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