Whether you're shooting portraits, real estate or just chasing a good sky, this is when the light works in McAllen. Every time below is computed live for McAllen's coordinates and updates for any date. Note the times below account for McAllen's latitude — golden hour runs longer in winter and shorter at midsummer than most charts assume.
The month-by-month table below is in this city's own local time. The live times above follow your device's timezone. Mountains, ridgelines and buildings can shorten the usable window — scout your horizon.
Local tip: Overcast day? A thin cloud layer at golden hour acts like a giant softbox — some of the best portrait light happens on days everyone else stays home.
Golden hour in McAllen is the hour before sunset — and sunset here runs from 5:40 PM in November to 8:29 PM in June. The table below gives the exact window for every month, in McAllen's own time zone.
Use the live times above for today's exact window. As a rule, evening golden hour in McAllen starts about 33 minutes before sunset and ends at sunset. In June that is 7:53 PM – 8:26 PM; in December it is 5:09 PM – 5:43 PM.
Sunset in McAllen is earliest at 5:40 PM on November 24 and latest at 8:29 PM on June 26, a swing of about 3 hours across the year.
Golden hour lasts about 33 minutes in midsummer and 34 minutes in midwinter. The longest evening golden hour falls in January at about 34 minutes; the shortest is in March at about 30 minutes.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:22 AM | 6:03 PM | 5:29 PM – 6:03 PM | 34 min | 10h 41m |
| February | 7:08 AM | 6:25 PM | 5:54 PM – 6:25 PM | 31 min | 11h 18m |
| March | 7:42 AM | 7:41 PM | 7:11 PM – 7:41 PM | 30 min | 12h 00m |
| April | 7:09 AM | 7:56 PM | 7:25 PM – 7:56 PM | 31 min | 12h 47m |
| May | 6:46 AM | 8:12 PM | 7:40 PM – 8:12 PM | 32 min | 13h 26m |
| June | 6:40 AM | 8:26 PM | 7:53 PM – 8:26 PM | 33 min | 13h 46m |
| July | 6:50 AM | 8:27 PM | 7:54 PM – 8:27 PM | 33 min | 13h 37m |
| August | 7:05 AM | 8:08 PM | 7:37 PM – 8:08 PM | 31 min | 13h 03m |
| September | 7:18 AM | 7:37 PM | 7:06 PM – 7:37 PM | 31 min | 12h 18m |
| October | 7:32 AM | 7:04 PM | 6:33 PM – 7:04 PM | 31 min | 11h 33m |
| November | 6:51 AM | 5:43 PM | 5:10 PM – 5:43 PM | 33 min | 10h 52m |
| December | 7:12 AM | 5:43 PM | 5:09 PM – 5:43 PM | 34 min | 10h 31m |
Golden hour is the stretch just after sunrise and just before sunset, when the low sun turns hard daylight into soft, warm, directional light — the most flattering natural light for portraits, real estate, product and landscape photography. Blue hour follows sunset (and precedes sunrise): a short window of deep, even blue that's ideal for twilight real estate shots and skylines. Both windows change with latitude and season, which is why this page computes them live instead of guessing.
Kanyon Studio is a San Diego photography and video studio — golden hour is our home field. Brand shoots, products, real estate and portraits, planned around exactly this light.
