Days get shorter, nights longer in Hyderabad as winter sets in

Sunrise in the city is now 30 minutes later than it was during the summer months while the sunset is more than an hour early.

Hyderabad: If you are an early riser, you will notice something peculiar happening for the last couple of weeks. Sunrise in Hyderabad is now 30 minutes later than it was during the summer months while the sunset is more than an hour early.

In fact, Thursday’s 6.30 am sunrise was nearly an hour later than the sunrise on June 1, the peak summer day. For the last 15 days of November, sunset in the city was stuck at 5:39 pm.

The average sunrise time in the city is around 6 am. But, during winter months it is around 6.30 am. The sunset, which happens at around 7 pm during summer months, takes place at around 5:45 pm.

From the end of April to June, the average daytime duration in the city is approximately 13 hours. As the monsoon sets in, the day length diminishes to nearly 12 hours. During winter, it is 11 hours or so and after January, the daylight slowly increases. By April the nights start getting shorter.

“Days start getting shorter and nights longer during winter months due to the solstice. This will last till February,” says Dr. A Sravani, Scientist-C, India Meteorological Department-Hyderabad.

According to the website Time and Date, the December solstice (winter solstice) in Hyderabad is at 3.18 am on December 22. In terms of daylight, this day is two hours, four minutes shorter than the June solstice. Even after the solstice, sunrise will continue occurring later in the morning until March, according to Sravani.

Winter solstice, also called hibernal solstice, is the two moments during the year when the path of the Sun in the sky is farthest south in the Northern Hemisphere (December 21 or 22) and farthest north in the Southern Hemisphere (June 20 or 21). During the December solstice, Earth is positioned so the sun stays below the North Pole’s horizon, making the days shorter.

Day length this year:

Date Sunrise Sunset Day length
Feb 1 6:48 am 6:11 pm 11:23:17

Mar 1 6:34 am 6:22 pm 11:47:54
Apr 1 6:11 am 6:29 pm 12:18:15

May 1 5:50 am 6:36 pm 12:45:50
June 1 5:41 am 6:46 pm 13:05:51

July 1 5:45 am 6:54 pm 13:09:01
Aug 1 5:55 am 6:49 am 12:53:55

Sep 1 6:02 am 6:29 pm 12:27:39
Oct 1 6:06 am 6:05 pm 11:58:47

Nov 31 6:29 am 5:39 pm 11:10:43
Dec 1 6:30 am 5:40 pm 11:10:16