There will not be a single 6 p.m. sunset this spring

SOUTHERN COLORADO (KXRM) — For early January, Southern Colorado is observing roughly one extra minute of daylight each day.

That number continues to grow exponentially as we head further into the year. By the end of January, Colorado will gain two minutes of daylight each day.

The state's sunsets will also start to get later. Here's a quick snapshot of what that might look like:

Colorado's first 5 p.m. sunset of the year will be taking place on Jan.14 -- just a handful of days away. The state's first 7 p.m. sunset will take place on March 9. So when will Coloradans see 6 p.m. sunsets? They won't -- not in Colorado Springs anyway.

The culprit: Daylight Saving Time. During this time, we jump forward one hour and it just so happens that we are jumping forward right after our last 5 p.m. sunset.

• Sunset on March 8 is at 5:59 p.m.
• Sunset on March 9 is at 7:00 p.m.

Daylight Saving Time regularly takes place on the second Sunday of March. Due to the organization of our calendar system, that means that it happens on a different day each year and thus the jump forward looks different. It just so happens that this year, the jump happens before Colorado Springs gets in a single 6 p.m. sunset.

The last time this happened was in March of 2014.

However, this oddity is not true for all of Southern Colorado. Sunset times vary widely depending on a number of factors. Latitude, longitude, and altitude all play a role in when the official sunset time is for each location.

For example, Lamar will have nine 6 p.m. sunsets before 7 p.m. sunsets take over. Woodland Park will have one. Cañon City will have two, and Alamosa will have five.

Others will also experience the strange jump straight from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. sunsets, including Denver, Pueblo, and Trinidad.

Whether your location skips 6 p.m. sunsets or not, the sky will start to look a lot different here soon. Day length will increase and the sun will stay out longer, so be sure to soak up the vitamin D!

The region has been gaining daylength for a few weeks now, ever since the first day of Winter back on Dec. 21. The last 5 p.m. sunset that Colorado Springs observed was on Nov. 2, 2024, and the last 8 p.m. sunset was on Aug. 9, 2024. If you're sick of the early sunsets, rest assured, brighter days are on the horizon.