Seattle's 5pm sunset starts The Big Dark
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Hello, darkness, our old friend. Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
6pm sunsets are so last week. Come Sunday, it'll be dark by 5.
Driving the news: Washington, along with most of the U.S., falls back to standard time Nov. 2.
Why it matters: Daylight saving time (DST) hits harder in Seattle — where at 47.6° latitude, we feel the extremes of Earth's orbit more than almost any other city in the Lower 48.
- Seasonal depression is real, and every lost minute of daylight can feel personal.
- At winter solstice on Dec. 21, there will be only eight hours of daylight, and even then the sky will probably be gray.
Catch up quick: As one of 19 states that have passed laws to adopt permanent DST, Washington's been ready to spring forward for good since 2019.
- Just this year, 35 states have weighed proposals related to DST, with some favoring permanent DST and others backing standard time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
- But states can't switch to DST without federal approval, and so far, Congress has hit snooze.
The big picture: The shift marks the return of The Big Dark — months when Seattleites start and end their workdays in shadow and glimpse neighbors only briefly through the rain.
What's next: We won't see another sunset after 5pm until Jan. 26. (Not that we're guaranteed to see it through the clouds.)