Western, central and northern Minnesota under windy, dry weather conditions 

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Have you noticed the brighter evenings Minnesota?

Our daylight is growing more quickly now as we move away from the winter solstice. 

We’re gaining nearly 2 minutes of daylight per day by this weekend. Most of that gain is on the sunset side of the day thanks to the earth’s axial tilt and orbit. 

The sun is setting 22 minutes later than it did 4 weeks ago. The sunset time in the Twin Cities reaches 5 pm on Sunday.

solar times in January for the Twin Cities from timeanddate.com

By the end of January, Minnesota will gain another 40 minutes of daylight. Sunset time on January 31 in the Twin Cities is 5:20 pm. 

That means you’ll still see twilight in the western sky on clear evenings until around 6 pm by the end of this month! So even as we move through what is typically the coldest part of winter in the next few weeks, our days are getting brighter. I know many of us can appreciate a little more light in our world these days.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

We’re rapidly gaining daylight as we move deeper into January. 

Brighter days: Minnesota gaining nearly 2 minutes of daylight each day

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox