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Earliest Sunset in Muscle Shoals, AL: 4:39 pm on Dec 5, 2026

At Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the earliest sunset of the year is about 4:39 pm (local time), on or around Dec 5. The latest sunrise comes later, at about 6:58 am on or around Jan 7. The shortest day is the winter solstice, Dec 21, with 9 h 49 min of daylight.
4:39 pmearliest sunset (Dec 5)
6:58 amlatest sunrise (Jan 7)
9 h 49 minshortest day (Dec 21)
5:57 pm → 4:56 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 Muscle Shoals, sunset on Saturday, Oct 31 is 5:57 pm. On Sunday, Nov 1 it is 4:56 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 7:10 am to 6:11 am.

Why the earliest sunset is not on the shortest day

At this latitude the sun sets earliest around Dec 5, about 16 days before the winter solstice, and rises latest around Jan 7, about 17 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.

When does the sun set after 5 pm again?

Sunset at Muscle Shoals stays before 5:00 pm until about Jan 12 (2027), and it is first at or after 5:00 pm that day, based on our calculation.

Sunrise and sunset, winter 2026–27, Muscle Shoals

DateSunriseSunsetDaylight
Oct 31, 20267:10 am5:57 pm10 h 47 min
Nov 1, 20266:11 am4:56 pm10 h 45 min
Nov 15, 20266:24 am4:45 pm10 h 21 min
Dec 1, 20266:39 am4:39 pm10 h 00 min
Dec 15, 20266:50 am4:41 pm9 h 50 min
Dec 21, 20266:54 am4:43 pm9 h 49 min
Jan 1, 20276:58 am4:50 pm9 h 53 min
Jan 15, 20276:57 am5:03 pm10 h 05 min
Feb 1, 20276:49 am5:20 pm10 h 31 min
Feb 15, 20276:36 am5:33 pm10 h 57 min
Mar 1, 20276:20 am5:46 pm11 h 26 min
Mar 13, 20276:04 am5:56 pm11 h 52 min

Local time (America/Chicago). Computed for the station coordinates (34.74, -87.60).

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