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 Merced
Merced's 8 PM sunsets run from about May 10 to August 9 — 92 evenings in a typical year. The wider season of sunsets at 7 PM or later lasts 197 days, from March 9 to September 21. At the other end of the year, sunsets before 5 PM begin around November 6 and last until January 5.
Days in Merced first reach 12 hours of daylight around March 17, 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 9 to August 2. Days with less than 10 hours of daylight run from November 21 to January 19 (60 days).
The Sun's rising point moves along the horizon too. Around the June solstice it rises in the ENE (59°) and sets in the WNW (301°); by the December solstice it rises in the ESE (119°) and sets in the WSW (241°). That is a 60° 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 Merced
Merced sits at 37.31°N, a mid-latitude position that gives it a balanced but noticeable seasonal rhythm. The difference between its longest and shortest day is 5h 9m.
On the summer solstice around June 21, Merced receives 14h 44m of daylight — the longest day of the year. By the winter solstice around December 21, that shrinks to 9h 36m, 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 1.5 minutes a day in Merced, and barely moves for weeks around the solstices. See how sunrise and sunset change through the year for why.
The Sun's Path Over Merced
Where the Sun sits in the sky over Merced depends on the season, and the contrast between summer and winter is set by the city's latitude of 37.31°N. On the summer solstice the midday Sun reaches 76.1° above the horizon in Merced, its highest point of the year. On the winter solstice the midday Sun only reaches 29.3°, 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 Merced 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 Merced
It is natural to assume Merced 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 8:27 PM, while the earliest sunset comes around December 6 at roughly 4:44 PM — noticeably before the December solstice.
On the morning side, the earliest sunrise in Merced is around June 13 at 5:41 AM, and the latest sunrise around November 1 at 7:27 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.
How Daylight Saving Time Moves Sunrise and Sunset in Merced
Merced, California changes its clocks twice a year, and both changes are visible in this page's numbers. On the second Sunday in March, Merced springs forward and the evening changes overnight: sunset jumps from about 6:03 PM on Saturday to about 7:04 PM on Sunday. The price is paid at dawn — sunrise slips from around 6:23 AM back to 7:21 AM, so mornings turn dark again just as they were brightening.
The reverse comes on the first Sunday in November, when clocks fall back: sunset drops from about 6:04 PM to 5:02 PM in a single day — the abrupt start of the early-dusk season — while sunrise brightens from around 7:27 AM to 6:28 AM.
Only the clock label shifts on those Sundays; the times above are for a typical year. More in how daylight saving time changes sunrise and sunset.
Golden Hour & Blue Hour Photography in Merced
For photographers in Merced, California, 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 Merced's local timezone.
Golden "hour" is a misnomer — its length in Merced 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 34 minutes; near the June solstice, when the Sun rises and sets at a shallower angle, it stretches to roughly 39 minutes, and near the December solstice it lasts about 41 minutes.
See the golden hour guide and blue hour guide for how to plan a shoot around these windows.
Solar Energy Potential in Merced
Under clear skies, Merced, California receives about 5.3 peak sun hours per day averaged across the year — from roughly 2.2 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 Merced sits at 37.3°N, a fixed, south-facing panel captures the most energy over the year when tilted at roughly 37° from horizontal — about equal to the latitude. If you adjust the tilt seasonally, flatten to about 22° in summer, when the Sun rides high, and steepen to about 52° in winter, when it stays low.
These are clear-sky upper bounds from Merced's solar geometry, not a forecast; clouds, shading, and equipment lower real output. See what peak sun hours mean.
How Merced Compares
Daylight in Merced swings 5h 9m between the June and December solstices. That is within a quarter-hour of the median of 5h 16m across the 1,847 cities on this site, making Merced close to typical for the United States. By that measure Merced ranks 990th of 1,847 nationally, and 98th of the 307 California cities listed here — counting from the largest swing down.
Merced sits almost exactly on 120°W, the meridian Pacific Time is built around, so its clock and its Sun are unusually well matched: mean solar noon lands within a couple of minutes of 12:00 standard time. 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 Merced
Merced, California, has an estimated urban-area population of 159,942. Its primary county or equivalent is Merced; its center is at 37.31°N, 120.48°W. Clocks here follow Pacific Time, which is the timezone all sunrise, sunset, golden-hour and twilight times on this page are shown in.
Times are computed for Merced'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.