2026, October 29: Daylight and Darkness Become Equal Before Halloween

October 29, 2026: At Chicago’s latitude, darkness soon exceeds daylight. Compare the duration of this period in Chicago, Anchorage, and Miami.

Autumn Sunrise
Image Caption – Autumn Sunrise

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:20 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 5:49 p.m. CDT.  Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.

Daylight and Darkness Become Equal

Tomorrow at Chicago’s latitude, daylight and darkness are equal. This is not to be confused with the equinox, when daylight and night are nearly equal. Obviously, daytime is when the sun is above the horizon, whether the sky is cloudy or clear. Nighttime occurs when the sun is below the horizon.

Nighttime can be divided into two parts – twilight and darkness. Twilight occurs when the sky glows before sunrise and after sunset, lasting 3 hours, 8 minutes at Chicago’s latitude today. Between the two twilight spans, darkness occurs. The sky is at its natural darkness.

City Comparisons

Tomorrow, daylight and darkness are equal at 10 hours, 26 minutes. Beginning on Halloween and continuing for the next 103 days through February 11, darkness is longer. The midpoint of this span is the winter solstice (December 21) in the northern hemisphere. More northerly latitudes experience longer periods when darkness exceeds daylight. For example, in Anchorage, the span is nearly 125 days, compared to 41 days in Miami. With half the US population living north of latitude 38.3°, long periods of darkness last at least 100 days.

Generalizing the idea, from approximately Halloween to Groundhog Day, there is no daylight to save.

As autumn’s midpoint approaches on November 6 and Daylight Saving Time ends on November 1, the effects of shorter daylight are felt across the US northern tier.

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