When is The Earliest Sunrise of the Year?
Find out why the earliest sunrise of the year happens a week before the longest day of the year.
Quick Reference: Earliest Sunrise
- The date: June 14 at 40° N latitude, about a week before the summer solstice.
- Why not the solstice: Earth’s elliptical orbit and axial tilt combine, so the sun’s transit drifts a few minutes off clock noon on either side of the solstice.
- The shape behind it: the analemma, a lopsided figure-8 the sun traces if you photograph it at the same clock time every day.
- Latest sunset: about a week after the solstice. Seattle hits it a few days before June 27; Mexico City lags into early July.
- Winter mirror: earliest sunset arrives about 2 weeks before the December solstice; latest sunrise about 2 weeks after.
- Longest day: still the solstice (about June 21). Daylight peaks even when the start and end times drift.
If you open your copy of Farmers’ Almanac 2026 to page 131, you will see that the earliest sunrise for the year is on June 14 in the Northern Hemisphere at 40° North Latitude. Ever wonder why the earliest sunrise happens that day, a full week before the longest day of the year?
It is one of the most counterintuitive facts in everyday astronomy. The longest day, the earliest sunrise, and the latest sunset do not all land on the same date. They are three separate events spread across about a month, driven by the same two things: Earth’s tilt and Earth’s slightly egg-shaped orbit around the Sun. The timeanddate.com sun calculator shows the offset at any latitude you punch in.
Earliest Sunrise, Before the Solstice?
While everyone knows the days are longer in summer, many people are surprised to learn that the earliest sunrise of the year does not occur on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, which falls on June 21. It comes nearly a week before it. The “why” comes in two parts.
The discrepancy is caused by the Earth’s elliptical orbit around the Sun. The Earth moves faster in its orbit during January, when we are closest to the Sun, than in July, when we are farthest away. Because of this motion, the Sun’s path through the sky, when charted on a day-by-day basis, appears to take a lopsided figure-8 pattern astronomers call an “analemma.”
Because of this, the conventional wisdom that the Sun lies directly overhead at noon, splitting the day into two equal parts, is not true. The midday Sun comes later by the clock on the June solstice than it does one week before. Therefore, the sunrise and sunset times also come later by the clock.
The Sun’s looping path also explains why the earliest sunrise of the year, and the latest sunset, do not exactly coincide with the summer solstice. The earliest sunrise occurs about a week before the solstice, while the latest sunset occurs about a week after it, with the exact date depending on your latitude. At northern latitudes (say, Seattle) the latest sunset happens a few days before June 27. At southern latitudes (say, Mexico City) the latest sunset will not happen until early July.
A similar effect happens during the winter solstice when the earliest sunset arrives about two weeks before the solstice, and the latest sunrise occurs about two weeks afterward. That is why December feels darker in early evening than it does in late afternoon a month later.
Earliest Sunrise & Latest Sunset, By Latitude
| Approx. latitude | Sample city | Earliest sunrise (approx.) | Latest sunset (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25° N | Miami, FL / Mexico City | about June 4 | about July 7 |
| 30° N | Houston, TX / New Orleans | about June 8 | about July 3 |
| 40° N | New York / Denver / Madrid | about June 14 | about June 27 |
| 45° N | Minneapolis, MN / Portland, OR | about June 15 | about June 26 |
| 50° N | Vancouver, BC / London | about June 16 | about June 25 |
| 60° N | Anchorage, AK / Oslo | about June 17 | about June 24 |
How to See It For Yourself
- Phone alarm trick. Set a 4:55 a.m. alarm on June 7, June 14, and June 21. Stand on the same porch each time and notice how the sun’s first rim hits the same point of horizon only on the middle date.
- Analemma photo. Mount a phone in the same spot, take a frame at 12:00 sharp once a week for a year. Stack the frames. The figure-8 emerges.
- Read your zip code. Type your zip into any sunrise/sunset calculator. Look at the difference between June 14 and June 21. Some southern U.S. cities show six minutes of clock drift, northern cities only one or two.
For early risers and sunrise chasers
A 4:30 a.m. wake-up is no fun under cloud cover.
Pair the date with the sky. The Farmers’ Almanac extended forecast shows the clearest mornings in your zip code, so the earliest sunrise of the year actually shows up.
Earliest Sunrise FAQ
When is the earliest sunrise of the year?
At about 40° North (New York, Denver, Madrid), the earliest sunrise of the year falls on June 14, about a week before the summer solstice. The exact date drifts by latitude.
Why isn’t the earliest sunrise on the longest day?
Because Earth’s orbit is slightly elliptical and Earth is tilted on its axis. The combined effect shifts solar noon by a few minutes on either side of the solstice, so the sunrise and sunset clock times drift even as total daylight peaks at the solstice.
What is the analemma?
A lopsided figure-8 the Sun appears to trace in the sky if you mark its position at the same clock time every day for a year. The shape is the visual signature of the same orbital quirks that move the earliest sunrise off the solstice.
When is the latest sunset of the year?
About a week after the summer solstice at 40° N (around June 27). The further south you go, the later it drifts; the further north, the closer it pulls toward the solstice itself.
Does the same offset happen in winter?
Yes, and it is even larger. The earliest sunset arrives about two weeks before the December solstice, and the latest sunrise about two weeks after, which is why January mornings feel darker than December ones.
Does latitude change the date of the earliest sunrise?
Yes. At 25° N (Miami, Mexico City) the earliest sunrise falls around June 4; at 60° N (Anchorage, Oslo) it sits closer to June 17. The higher the latitude, the smaller the gap between earliest sunrise and the solstice.
Is the longest day still the summer solstice?
Yes. The solstice is when the total daylight reaches its annual maximum. The earliest sunrise and latest sunset just happen on different dates because solar noon also shifts.
Related Articles
Why does the sun rise at different places at different times?
What is the Green Flash phenomenon?
Read on for more sky-watcher pieces: why the summer solstice is the longest day of the year, understanding the phases of the moon, and why there are more stars in the winter sky.
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This article was published by the Staff at FarmersAlmanac.com. Any questions? Contact us at questions@farmersalmananac.com.
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
Also what are you classifying the start of the sunrise the crest of the sunrise etc
I would want to look into if, since there are 365 and the extra days and we have to do the leap year if the times differ by how much at the early part of our start of the leap year cycle and how they differ at the end of the start of our leap year Cycle can we find a way to post that?
Good morning rise and shine.
It’s not just the elliptical orbit. The axial tilt is at least as important.
Never mind….will check adjustments for Chicago….longitude and latitude.
According to timeanddate.com for Chicago, sunrise is 5:14 a.m. June 12 thru June 17. Don’t understand such a big discrepancy between 5:14 and 5:30 a.m. for sunrise.
Depends on how close the author, and you, are to the time zone lines. An entire time zone is at 5:00 at the same moment but the sun appears to be in different places on the horizon across the zone. Sun will rise earlier on the eastern edge of the zone and later on the western edge of the zone, yes? It would explain discrepancies of up to an hour.
Latitude and longitude affect sunrise time. In the northern hemisphere, the farther north the earlier the sunrise between the spring and fall equinoxes. The sunset is also later farther north during that period. The farther west the later the sunrise. At a given latitude, the sun rises about 4 minutes later for every degree west. It is confusing because sometimes sunrise/sunset is calculated without regard to Daylight Savings, which makes more sense in constructing a chart for the whole year, and sometimes adjusted for Daylight Savings, which is more practical. So a 6:30 sunrise for New York City (Daylight Savings) could translate to 5:04 (no Daylight Savings) for Cape Cod. I’m no expert. Look up ‘local time’ as it was calculated before time zones were invented for more information.
I have been asking this for years but have not received an answer. Why is it hottest later (about 4:00 pm) than it used to be (about 1:00 pm) several years ago. What happened? I assumed it was the earthquake in Sumatra (& ensuing sunami that killed roughly 1/4 million people), but really don’t know for sure.
No comment
The sAFEST ACTION THEN WOULD BE ‘no comment’