Sad News: First Colorado Sunset Before 8 PM Happens Within Days

Summer... we hardly knew ya. Kids - and their parents - are prepping for back-to-school. July is hardly in the rearview mirror. We're seeing low temps overnight in the low 50s - well, every now and again - and it's time to start mentally preparing for those shorter days and dark drives home.

The Global Monitoring Laboratory predicts that Colorado will see its first sunset before 8 PM within the next week, unofficially starting the slide from summer to autumn in the Centennial State.

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By their calculation, the sun sets about a minute earlier each and every day, putting Sunday, August 13th as the target for the first pre-8 PM sunset of this side of the summer solstice 2023.

That day - the longest day of the year - is typically June 21st, where this year we saw roughly 15 hours of sunlight, with sunrise at 5:32 AM and sunset at 8:31 PM.

It's all downhill from here. Daylight Saving Time occurs on November 5, 2023, which feels like a long way off right now, but you know how it goes. First, the kids go back to school. Then you start packing up some of your "summer yard" stuff for storage. Next thing you know there are leaves on the ground, the Broncos are on your TV and you're waiting for the first snow flurries to fall with a pot of chili bubbling on the stove. None of which sounds all that bad.

Until the day you get in the car to drive home from work one day and realize your headlights are already on and you haven't even left the parking lot. That's when it gets depressing.

So get out there, enjoy some sunshine, and soak up some vitamin D while you can.