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Earliest Sunset in Kotzebue, AK: 2:39 pm on Dec 20, 2026

At Kotzebue, Alaska, the earliest sunset of the year is about 2:39 pm (local time), on or around Dec 20. The latest sunrise comes later, at about 12:58 pm on or around Dec 22. The shortest day is the winter solstice, Dec 21, with 1 h 42 min of daylight.
2:39 pmearliest sunset (Dec 20)
12:58 pmlatest sunrise (Dec 22)
1 h 42 minshortest day (Dec 21)
6:17 pm → 5:13 pmsunset Oct 31 → Nov 1, 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 Kotzebue, sunset on Saturday, Oct 31 is 6:17 pm. On Sunday, Nov 1 it is 5:13 pm, which is 64 minutes earlier on the clock (one hour from the clock change plus about 4 minutes of normal seasonal change). Sunrise moves from 10:50 am to 9:54 am.

Why the earliest sunset is not on the shortest day

At this latitude the sun sets earliest around Dec 20, about 1 days before the winter solstice, and rises latest around Dec 22, about 1 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 Dec 18 to Dec 21.

When does the sun set after 5 pm again?

Sunset at Kotzebue stays before 5:00 pm until about Jan 29 (2027), and it is first at or after 5:00 pm that day, based on our calculation.

Sunrise and sunset, winter 2026–27, Kotzebue

DateSunriseSunsetDaylight
Oct 31, 202610:50 am6:17 pm7 h 27 min
Nov 1, 20269:54 am5:13 pm7 h 19 min
Nov 15, 202610:50 am4:19 pm5 h 30 min
Dec 1, 202611:57 am3:21 pm3 h 24 min
Dec 15, 202612:48 pm2:43 pm1 h 55 min
Dec 21, 202612:58 pm2:40 pm1 h 42 min
Jan 1, 202712:43 pm3:05 pm2 h 22 min
Jan 15, 202711:58 am4:03 pm4 h 05 min
Feb 1, 202710:54 am5:15 pm6 h 20 min
Feb 15, 202710:00 am6:10 pm8 h 10 min
Mar 1, 20279:05 am7:02 pm9 h 56 min
Mar 13, 20278:18 am7:44 pm11 h 26 min

Local time (America/Nome). Computed for the station coordinates (66.89, -162.61).

Nearby places

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 Alaska (on our sister site PlugVsPump, from EIA prices).