Seasonal figures below use a 2025 reference year. Choose a date in the planner above for that day’s times, golden hour, twilight, and daylight milestones.
Seasonal Sun Milestones in Prescott
Prescott's 7 PM sunsets run from about April 12 to August 29 — 140 evenings in a typical year. Even in midwinter, sunset here never falls before 5 PM on the clock.
Days in Prescott first reach 12 hours of daylight around March 16, a few days before the March equinox, and drop back under 12 hours after September 25. Days with at least 14 hours of daylight run from May 16 to July 26. Days with less than 10 hours of daylight run from December 2 to January 9 (39 days).
The Sun's rising point moves along the horizon too. Around the June solstice it rises in the ENE (60°) and sets in the WNW (300°); by the December solstice it rises in the ESE (118°) and sets in the WSW (242°). That is a 58° swing — worth knowing when choosing a west-facing viewpoint for a summer sunset or an east-facing window for winter morning light.
Dates use the 2025 reference year. Clock-time milestones near daylight-saving changes move with the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.
Daylight Through the Year in Prescott
At 34.58°N, Prescott has a milder seasonal daylight swing than cities to the north. Across the year, the length of the day here varies by 4h 38m.
On the summer solstice around June 21, Prescott receives 14h 29m of daylight — the longest day of the year. By the winter solstice around December 21, that shrinks to 9h 50m, the shortest day. At the spring and autumn equinoxes, day and night are nearly equal at about 12h 9m, as they are everywhere on Earth.
Sunset moves fastest around September, when it shifts by up to 1.4 minutes a day in Prescott, and barely moves for weeks around the solstices. See how sunrise and sunset change through the year for why.
The Sun's Path Over Prescott
Where the Sun sits in the sky over Prescott depends on the season, and the contrast between summer and winter is set by the city's latitude of 34.58°N. On the summer solstice the midday Sun reaches 78.9° above the horizon in Prescott, its highest point of the year. On the winter solstice the midday Sun only reaches 32.0°, sitting much lower in the southern sky and casting long shadows even at noon.
Those roughly 47 degrees separating the summer and winter midday Sun are exactly what give Prescott its seasons.
The live sun path at the top of this page shows the Sun's altitude and compass bearing for the current moment or any chosen date.
Earliest and Latest Sunrises and Sunsets in Prescott
It is natural to assume Prescott sees its latest sunset on the longest day of the year, but it does not. The latest sunset actually falls around June 28 at about 7:47 PM, while the earliest sunset comes around December 4 at roughly 5:19 PM — noticeably before the December solstice.
On the morning side, the earliest sunrise in Prescott is around June 12 at 5:16 AM, and the latest sunrise around January 7 at 7:37 AM. The equation of time and daylight saving pull these dates away from the solstices — explained in why the latest sunset isn't on the longest day.
No Clock Changes in Prescott
Unlike most of the United States, Prescott, Arizona does not observe daylight saving time. Most of Arizona has kept standard time year-round since the late 1960s — the summer evenings are hot enough that an extra hour of evening sun was never popular. (The Navajo Nation, in the state's northeast, is the exception and does change its clocks.)
In practice this means no jarring one-hour jump in sunrise and sunset twice a year. Across the whole year, sunset in Prescott only ranges from about 5:19 PM at the earliest to 7:47 PM at the latest — the change residents notice is gradual and driven purely by the Sun, never by the clock.
One side effect worth knowing: the time difference between Prescott and cities that do change their clocks shifts twice a year. A place that is normally in the same hour can be an hour off from mid-March to early November, which matters for calls, broadcasts, and travel schedules.
Golden Hour & Blue Hour Photography in Prescott
For photographers in Prescott, Arizona, the planner shows your selected date's morning and evening golden-hour and blue-hour windows. Choose Today, Tomorrow, or a date in the calendar; all clock times are calculated in Prescott's local timezone.
Golden "hour" is a misnomer — its length in Prescott depends on the season, because it lasts as long as the Sun takes to climb from the horizon to 6° (or descend back). Around the equinoxes it runs about 33 minutes; near the June solstice, when the Sun rises and sets at a shallower angle, it stretches to roughly 37 minutes, and near the December solstice it lasts about 39 minutes.
See the golden hour guide and blue hour guide for how to plan a shoot around these windows.
Solar Energy Potential in Prescott
Under clear skies, Prescott, Arizona receives about 5.5 peak sun hours per day averaged across the year — from roughly 2.6 in December up to 8.3 in June. One peak sun hour equals one hour of sunlight at full intensity (1 kW/m²), the standard unit for estimating solar panel output.
Because Prescott sits at 34.6°N, a fixed, south-facing panel captures the most energy over the year when tilted at roughly 35° from horizontal — about equal to the latitude. If you adjust the tilt seasonally, flatten to about 20° in summer, when the Sun rides high, and steepen to about 50° in winter, when it stays low.
These are clear-sky upper bounds from Prescott's solar geometry, not a forecast; clouds, shading, and equipment lower real output. See what peak sun hours mean.
How Prescott Compares
Daylight in Prescott swings 4h 38m between the June and December solstices. The median across the 1,847 cities on this site is 5h 16m, so Prescott has a 38m gentler seasonal swing than a typical American city. By that measure Prescott ranks 1189th of 1,847 nationally, and 5th of the 38 Arizona cities listed here — counting from the largest swing down.
Prescott sits about 7.4° west of 105°W — the meridian Mountain Time (no daylight saving) is built around. Longitude alone therefore puts mean solar noon roughly 30 minutes after clock noon in standard time, so the Sun runs behind the clock here, which is why evenings hold light later than the time zone would suggest. The equation of time then moves true solar noon up to about 16 minutes either side of that through the year.
About Sun Times in Prescott
Prescott, Arizona, has an estimated urban-area population of 47,400. Its primary county or equivalent is Yavapai; its center is at 34.58°N, 112.45°W. Clocks here follow Mountain Time (no daylight saving), which is the timezone all sunrise, sunset, golden-hour and twilight times on this page are shown in.
Times are computed for Prescott's city-center coordinates, so towns to the east see each event slightly earlier and towns to the west slightly later; the nearby-cities list above shows the typical gap.