Earliest Sunset in Atlanta, GA: 5:29 pm on Dec 4, 2026
What happens to sunset when the clocks change (Nov 1, 2026)
Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 am on Sunday, Nov 1, 2026. At Atlanta, sunset on Saturday, Oct 31 is 6:46 pm. On Sunday, Nov 1 it is 5:45 pm, which is 61 minutes earlier on the clock (one hour from the clock change plus about 1 minute of normal seasonal change). Sunrise moves from 7:56 am to 6:57 am.
Why the earliest sunset is not on the shortest day
At this latitude the sun sets earliest around Dec 4, about 17 days before the winter solstice, and rises latest around Jan 8, about 18 days after it. In December, solar noon slides a little later on the clock each day (about half a minute per day), which shifts sunsets later while the days are still getting shorter. More on the 2026 findings. Within a minute of that time from Nov 27 to Dec 12.
Sunset and 5 pm
At Atlanta the earliest sunset (5:29 pm) is already at or after 5:00 pm, so the sun never sets before 5 pm here.
Sunrise and sunset, winter 2026–27, Atlanta
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2026 | 7:56 am | 6:46 pm | 10 h 50 min |
| Nov 1, 2026 | 6:57 am | 5:45 pm | 10 h 49 min |
| Nov 15, 2026 | 7:10 am | 5:35 pm | 10 h 25 min |
| Dec 1, 2026 | 7:24 am | 5:29 pm | 10 h 05 min |
| Dec 15, 2026 | 7:35 am | 5:31 pm | 9 h 56 min |
| Dec 21, 2026 | 7:38 am | 5:34 pm | 9 h 55 min |
| Jan 1, 2027 | 7:42 am | 5:40 pm | 9 h 58 min |
| Jan 15, 2027 | 7:42 am | 5:52 pm | 10 h 10 min |
| Feb 1, 2027 | 7:34 am | 6:09 pm | 10 h 35 min |
| Feb 15, 2027 | 7:22 am | 6:22 pm | 11 h 00 min |
| Mar 1, 2027 | 7:06 am | 6:34 pm | 11 h 28 min |
| Mar 13, 2027 | 6:51 am | 6:44 pm | 11 h 53 min |
Local time (America/New_York). Computed for the station coordinates (33.63, -84.44).
Nearby places
- Atlanta (station 2), GA 5:30 pm
- Rome (Georgia), GA 5:30 pm
- Athens (Georgia), GA 5:24 pm
- Macon, GA 5:28 pm
- Anniston, AL 4:35 pm
- Columbus (Georgia), GA 5:34 pm
- Chattanooga, TN 5:29 pm
- Birmingham, AL 4:39 pm
These times repeat almost exactly each year (in our checks the earliest-sunset clock time did not change by even a minute from 2025 to 2029). Computed by Earliest Sunset; how we calculate this. Your exact spot, hills, buildings and elevation can shift what you see; this is the time the sun’s upper edge touches the flat horizon.
Long, dark evenings mean more heating. Heat pump vs gas furnace, propane and oil: heating cost in Georgia (on our sister site PlugVsPump, from EIA prices).