B.C. daylight shifts: later sunrises and later sunsets after the province kept its clocks in place

The Story

B.C. residents did not put their clocks back this weekend, meaning sunrises in many parts of the province will arrive about an hour later than most people are used to, with morning light continuing to darken as winter progresses.

According to the National Research Council, this morning in Vancouver the sun rose just after 8 a.m., but by Dec. 29 sunrise will be more than an hour later, at 9:08 a.m. The sky will begin to lighten about half an hour before that, at 8:30 a.m.

The impact varies across the province because communities closer to the western side of their time zones experience darker winter mornings under permanent daylight time. In contrast, Nelson, on the eastern side of the time zone, is expected to see its latest December sunrise at 8:45 a.m.

Further north, Prince George’s late-December sunrise shifts from 8:30 to 9:30, the NRC data show.

Along with later sunrises, permanent daylight time also moves sunsets later, extending winter afternoons. In Vancouver, that means the end of the 4:15 p.m. sunset.

The earliest sunsets in Vancouver are expected to occur between Dec. 7 and 16 at 5:14 p.m., based on the NRC. In both Nelson and Prince George, the sun is expected to go down at 4:49 p.m. instead of 3:49 p.m.

In Vancouver, the darkest stretch of the year remains Dec. 19 to 24, with just under 8.2 hours of daylight, according to the NRC.

The change also affects when the sun reaches its highest point during the day. Under standard time, the sun is generally at or near its zenith at 12 p.m., but with daylight time, solar noon in Vancouver will be just before 1 p.m. Had the clocks fallen back as usual, the sun would have peaked at 11:56 a.m. instead.

The timing continues to move later until mid-February, when solar noon in Vancouver is expected to be at about 1:27 p.m., according to the NRC.