Calculated sunrise, sunset, golden hour and blue hour times for Raleigh, NC. Select a date to view the calculated light times.
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.
Terrain, buildings and weather can affect visible light. Check the horizon and conditions at the selected location.
Golden hour in Raleigh is the hour before sunset — and sunset here runs from 5:00 PM in December to 8:34 PM in June. The table below gives the exact window for every month, in Raleigh's own time zone.
Use the live times above for today's exact window. As a rule, evening golden hour in Raleigh starts about 38 minutes before sunset and ends at sunset. In June that is 7:54 PM – 8:32 PM; in December it is 4:22 PM – 5:02 PM.
Sunset in Raleigh is earliest at 5:00 PM on December 1 and latest at 8:34 PM on June 21, a swing of about 4 hours across the year.
Golden hour lasts about 38 minutes in midsummer and 40 minutes in midwinter. The longest evening golden hour falls in December at about 40 minutes; the shortest is in March at about 34 minutes.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:23 AM | 5:24 PM | 4:46 PM – 5:24 PM | 38 min | 10h 01m |
| February | 7:01 AM | 5:56 PM | 5:21 PM – 5:56 PM | 35 min | 10h 55m |
| March | 7:25 AM | 7:22 PM | 6:48 PM – 7:22 PM | 34 min | 11h 57m |
| April | 6:41 AM | 7:48 PM | 7:13 PM – 7:48 PM | 35 min | 13h 06m |
| May | 6:09 AM | 8:13 PM | 7:36 PM – 8:13 PM | 37 min | 14h 04m |
| June | 5:57 AM | 8:32 PM | 7:54 PM – 8:32 PM | 38 min | 14h 34m |
| July | 6:10 AM | 8:30 PM | 7:53 PM – 8:30 PM | 37 min | 14h 21m |
| August | 6:33 AM | 8:04 PM | 7:29 PM – 8:04 PM | 35 min | 13h 31m |
| September | 6:57 AM | 7:21 PM | 6:47 PM – 7:21 PM | 34 min | 12h 24m |
| October | 7:21 AM | 6:38 PM | 6:04 PM – 6:38 PM | 34 min | 11h 18m |
| November | 6:50 AM | 5:07 PM | 4:30 PM – 5:07 PM | 37 min | 10h 17m |
| December | 7:17 AM | 5:02 PM | 4:22 PM – 5:02 PM | 40 min | 9h 45m |
Golden hour is the period near sunrise and sunset when the sun is low. Blue hour occurs before sunrise and after sunset. Calculated times vary with location and date; weather, terrain and buildings can affect visible light.
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