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 Tucson
Tucson's 7 PM sunsets run from about April 24 to August 21 — 120 evenings in a typical year. Even in midwinter, sunset here never falls before 5 PM on the clock.
Days in Tucson 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 24 to July 17.
The Sun's rising point moves along the horizon too. Around the June solstice it rises in the ENE (61°) and sets in the WNW (299°); by the December solstice it rises in the ESE (117°) and sets in the WSW (243°). That is a 56° 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 Tucson
At 32.15°N, Tucson has a milder seasonal daylight swing than cities to the north. Across the year, the length of the day here varies by 4h 13m.
On the summer solstice around June 21, Tucson receives 14h 16m of daylight — the longest day of the year. By the winter solstice around December 21, that shrinks to 10h 3m, 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 1.3 minutes a day in Tucson, and barely moves for weeks around the solstices. See how sunrise and sunset change through the year for why.
The Sun's Path Over Tucson
Where the Sun sits in the sky over Tucson depends on the season, and the contrast between summer and winter is set by the city's latitude of 32.15°N. On the summer solstice the midday Sun climbs to 81.3° above the horizon in Tucson — nearly straight overhead, leaving objects almost no shadow at solar noon. On the winter solstice the midday Sun only reaches 34.4°, 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 Tucson 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 Tucson
It is natural to assume Tucson sees its latest sunset on the longest day of the year, but it does not. The latest sunset actually falls around June 29 at about 7:34 PM, while the earliest sunset comes around December 3 at roughly 5:18 PM — noticeably before the December solstice.
On the morning side, the earliest sunrise in Tucson is around June 11 at 5:17 AM, and the latest sunrise around January 8 at 7:25 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 Tucson
Unlike most of the United States, Tucson, 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 Tucson only ranges from about 5:18 PM at the earliest to 7:34 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 Tucson 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 Tucson
For photographers in Tucson, 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 Tucson's local timezone.
Golden "hour" is a misnomer — its length in Tucson 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 32 minutes; near the June solstice, when the Sun rises and sets at a shallower angle, it stretches to roughly 36 minutes, and near the December solstice it lasts about 37 minutes.
See the golden hour guide and blue hour guide for how to plan a shoot around these windows.
Solar Energy Potential in Tucson
Under clear skies, Tucson, Arizona receives about 5.7 peak sun hours per day averaged across the year — from roughly 2.9 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 Tucson sits at 32.2°N, a fixed, south-facing panel captures the most energy over the year when tilted at roughly 32° from horizontal — about equal to the latitude. If you adjust the tilt seasonally, flatten to about 17° in summer, when the Sun rides high, and steepen to about 47° in winter, when it stays low.
These are clear-sky upper bounds from Tucson's solar geometry, not a forecast; clouds, shading, and equipment lower real output. See what peak sun hours mean.
How Tucson Compares
Daylight in Tucson swings 4h 13m between the June and December solstices. The median across the 1,847 cities on this site is 5h 16m, so Tucson has a 1h 3m gentler seasonal swing than a typical American city. By that measure Tucson ranks 1547th of 1,847 nationally, and 35th of the 38 Arizona cities listed here — counting from the largest swing down.
Tucson sits about 5.9° west of 105°W — the meridian Mountain Time (no daylight saving) is built around. Longitude alone therefore puts mean solar noon roughly 24 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 Tucson
Tucson, Arizona, has an estimated urban-area population of 890,860. Its primary county or equivalent is Pima; its center is at 32.15°N, 110.88°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 Tucson'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.