The Days are Getting Longer for the Early Risers of Connecticut

The 2025 Winter Solstice, otherwise known as the shortest day of the year, happened right before Christmas Day on December 21. Since then, the days have been getting a little bit longer, and now as we get into January you will really start to notice it.

Today is Wednesday, January 7, 2026, and the sunrise over Danbury happened at 7:20AM, our sunset tonight will happen at 4:40PM. a full 9 hours and 40 minutes of glorious sunshine. Tomorrow, Thursday, January 8 - Sunrise at 7:20AM, and sunset at 4:41PM. 1 single minute? Yes, but now is when we start to see a steady accumulation of more daylight.

Three weeks from today is Wednesday, January 28, and the sunrise in Danbury will be at 7:09AM, and the sunset will happen at 5:04PM. Over the next three weeks Connecticut will gain a half an hour of sunlight as the sunrise creeps earlier, and the sunset hold on for just a few minutes more each day.

Daylight Savings Time 2026 is when we will Spring forward and gain an hour and that will happen on Sunday, March 8, that is two months away. We've absolutely felt the effects of the cold, snowy weather over the past month here in Connecticut, but if you can only contain your seasonal affective disorder for 60 more days, your sunsets will be right back into the 6-7PM range that we all want to happen year-round.

Something that we haven't heard about recently is the national push to abolish Daylight Savings Time. Every year in Connecticut this topic is introduced to our General Assembly of lawmakers, and it dies on the vine.