Longer days are coming. Here’s when NC will have 8 p.m. sunsets again
Daylight saving time is here, which means later sunsets are on the horizon.
We adjusted our clocks forward on Sunday, March 9, losing an hour of sleep — but North Carolinians will gain much more sunlight in the coming weeks.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac sunrise/sunset calculator, North Carolina residents are currently enjoying nearly 12 hours of sunlight per day with sunsets around 7:30 p.m.
When the sun sets at 8 p.m., the state will see more than 13 hours of sunlight per day, according to the almanac.
When will different NC cities see 8 pm sunsets?
Here’s when different North Carolina cities will see 8 p.m. sunsets, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac sunrise/sunset calculator and timeanddate.com:
Asheville: Thursday, April 10
Charlotte: Saturday, April 19
Winston-Salem: Sunday, April 20
Greensboro: Tuesday, April 22
Durham: Saturday, April 26
Chapel Hill: Saturday, April 26
Raleigh: Monday, April 28
Fayetteville: Monday, April 28
Wilmington: Monday, May 5
When did NC start gaining more daylight?
The days started lengthening on Monday, Dec. 23, two days after the winter solstice, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, but the increase starts slowly.
“This gain will be minuscule at first, just a matter of seconds a day, but will steadily grow until daily daylight expands by three daily minutes per day in March,” the almanac says.
The daylight gain will slow by May as the summer solstice approaches in June. During the summer solstice, the amount of daylight will peak and give way to the longest day and shortest night of the year.
The opposite is in effect from the summer to winter solstice, as the amount of daylight decreases until it peaks with the longest night of the year in December.
What are the benefits of more daylight?
Research shows that more daylight has many benefits.
A study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that the four-week extension of daylight saving time in 2008 saved about 0.5% of the nation’s electricity per day or 1.3 trillion watt-hours — enough to power 100,000 households for an entire year.
Studies have also shown that the extra hour of daylight has resulted in safer roads, lower crime rates, and economic benefits.
Critics, however, say more dark mornings could lead to grogginess for commuters and parents who drive their children to school, especially in the winter.
Other concerns about daylight saving time included disruptions to harvesting schedules for farmers, interference with religious observances based on solar and lunar time and potential delays in reworking computer systems programmed to switch twice a year.
Is daylight saving always the same time of year?
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 established national start and end dates for daylight saving time.
However, the act allows states to exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time under state law.
Arizona and Hawaii, along with the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, observe permanent standard time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Longer days are coming. Here’s when NC will have 8 p.m. sunsets again."
