Coordinate model
Los Angeles is computed at 34.05°N, 118.24°W in America/Los_Angeles. The coordinate, not the country or timezone alone, controls the curve.
Daylight curve
Daylight in Los Angeles, 2026
34.05°N · 118.24°W. Each vertical bar is one day of the year — bar height shows total daylight minutes.
Daylight values are generated from the city coordinates and solar-position math during the page revalidation window.
Longest day
14.4h
2026-06-15
Shortest day
9.9h
2026-12-17
Average
12.2h
Δ seasonal
6h
12h
18h
24h
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Today's solar window
Sun and twilight in Los Angeles
Sunrise
6:16 AM
Solar noon
11:36 AM
Sunset
4:56 PM
Day length
10h 41m
Civil twilight (-6°)
5:50 AM to 5:22 PM
Nautical twilight (-12°)
5:20 AM to 5:52 PM
Astronomical twilight (-18°)
4:51 AM to 6:21 PM
Golden hour1h 43m total
6:00 AM to 6:51 AM · 4:21 PM to 5:12 PM
Blue hour20m total
5:50 AM to 6:00 AM · 5:12 PM to 5:22 PM
Seasonal checkpoints
Solstice and equinox anchors
March equinox
Mar 20
12h 8m
June solstice
Jun 21
14h 25m
September equinox
Sep 22
12h 9m
December solstice
Dec 21
9h 53m
Full-year edge cases: 0 polar-day entries and 0 polar-night entries in the 2026 curve.
City solar dossier
Los Angeles daylight facts that are not generic
These rows bind the page to Los Angeles's coordinates, local timezone, annual daylight spread, twilight availability, and peer-city curve rather than a reusable sunrise template.
Annual daylight spread
4h 32m between Dec 17 (9h 53m) and Jun 15 (14h 25m).
Local-date snapshot
Today resolves to sunrise 6:16 AM, solar noon 11:36 AM, and sunset 4:56 PM.
Photographer signal
golden hour today 1h 43m; blue hour today 20m; longest golden-hour day Dec 21 — 1h 51m
Darkness and white-night risk
365 days include astronomical darkness; 0 civil white-night days and 0 astronomical white-night days are modeled in 2026.
Best comparison anchors
Tokyo (4h 51m swing); Tel Aviv (4h 12m swing); Sydney (4h 30m swing); Buenos Aires (4h 39m swing); Shanghai (4h 4m swing)
Solar evidence pack
Why this Los Angeles sun page is retained
This audit ties the page to a retained city route, exact coordinates, local timezone, a full-year daylight curve, twilight thresholds, and peer-city comparisons.
12/12checks
Retained city route
pass/sun/los-angeles/ resolves to Los Angeles, United States; the route is generated only from the retained SUN_CITIES list.
Coordinate precision
pass34.05°N, 118.24°W; latitude band mid-latitude band; Northern Hemisphere.
Local timezone
passAmerica/Los_Angeles is used to anchor today's local sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight windows.
Full-year daylight curve
pass365 daily daylight rows were computed for 2026; expected 365.
Annual extremes
passLongest Jun 15 (14h 25m), shortest Dec 17 (9h 53m), average 12h 11m.
Seasonal momentum
passFastest gain Mar 2 (+3m from the previous day); fastest loss Sep 6 (-3m from the previous day); closest 12-hour day Mar 16 at 11h 59m (-1m from 12h).
Local-day solar snapshot
passToday: sunrise 6:16 AM, solar noon 11:36 AM, sunset 4:56 PM.
Twilight ladder
passGolden Dec 21 — 1h 51m; blue Jun 21 — 23m; civil Jun 21 — 58m; astronomical night Dec 21 — 11h 8m.
Darkness and white-night model
pass365 days with astronomical darkness; 0 civil white-night days; 0 astronomical white-night days.
Seasonal checkpoints
passMarch equinox: 12h 8m; June solstice: 14h 25m; September equinox: 12h 9m; December solstice: 9h 53m
Peer curve comparison
passTokyo (4h 51m); Tel Aviv (4h 12m); Sydney (4h 30m); Buenos Aires (4h 39m); Shanghai (4h 4m)
Method and citation boundary
passSolar thresholds are NOAA-style; timezone rules use IANA. The page is a planning model, not a legal almanac or obstruction-aware site survey.
Practical read
How to use this solar profile
Photography
1h 43m golden hour today
Best annual golden-hour day: Dec 21 — 1h 51m. Blue-hour total today: 20m.
Astronomy
365 true-darkness days
Longest astronomical-night entry: Dec 21 — 11h 8m. Use local cloud cover and moon phase separately.
Outdoor routine
10h 41m daylight today
Sunrise 6:16 AM and sunset 4:56 PM are the practical day-boundaries for school runs, work windows, and outdoor activity.
Seasonal planning
4h 32m annual swing
June average 14h 23m; December average 9h 56m. This is the year-scale gap to check before travel or outdoor scheduling.
Travel comparison
10 retained peer curves
Los Angeles's closest daylight-pattern peers here include Tokyo (4h 51m annual swing), Tel Aviv (4h 12m annual swing), Sydney (4h 30m annual swing), Buenos Aires (4h 39m annual swing).
Civil-light risk
Full civil-twilight bound all year
Civil twilight uses -6°. White-night counts matter because dawn/dusk phases stop behaving like ordinary morning/evening windows.
Calculation boundaries
What this model can and cannot promise
What this model includes
Latitude, longitude, solar elevation thresholds, atmospheric-refraction sunrise/sunset convention, America/Los_Angeles local formatting, and a 365-day sweep for 2026.
What this model excludes
Mountains, skyline obstruction, sea horizon differences, weather, smoke, cloud cover, local legal definitions, aviation rules, and observer elevation.
When to verify elsewhere
Use official observatory, aviation, maritime, legal, or local almanac sources for high-stakes operations; this page is designed for planning, comparison, and general reference.
Why city pages differ
Two cities in America/Los_Angeles can still have different daylight and twilight curves because the coordinate pair, especially latitude, drives the result.
Seasonal daylight fingerprint
How daylight changes through 2026
These values are derived from the same 365-day curve: threshold counts, fastest day-to-day change, the closest 12-hour balance, and monthly daylight averages.
14h+ daylight days
69
Days at or above fourteen hours of sun.
10h-or-less days
35
Short-day entries at ten hours or below.
Fastest gain
Mar 2 (+3m from the previous day)
Fastest loss
Sep 6 (-3m from the previous day)
Closest 12-hour balance
Mar 16 at 11h 59m (-1m from 12h)
Brightest month
June average 14h 23m
Shortest month
December average 9h 56m
Year-round photographer planning
Golden & blue hour across 2026
Combined morning + evening windows, computed for every UTC day of the year.
- Longest golden hour day
- Dec 21 — 1h 51m
- Shortest non-zero golden hour day
- Sep 21 — 1h 37m
- Year-round daily average
- 1h 43m
- Longest blue hour day
- Jun 21 — 23m
- Blue-hour daily average
- 21m
- Longest civil twilight
- Jun 21 — 58m
- Civil twilight average
- 53m
- Longest astronomical night
- Dec 21 — 11h 8m
- Days with true darkness
- 365 / 365
Twilight phases reference
What each phase means
Solar elevation thresholds used on this page. All angles are measured from the true horizon at the city coordinate.
Sunrise / sunset · -0.833°
The sun's upper edge crosses the horizon. The negative value is atmospheric refraction (~34') plus the apparent solar disc radius (~16') — what almanacs call "official" sunrise/sunset.
Golden hour · 6° to -4°
Warm, low-angle light photographers and cinematographers plan around. Two windows per day — one in the morning, one in the evening.
Blue hour · -4° to -6°
Sky takes on deep, even blues; useful for cityscape photography because artificial lights and ambient sky balance.
Civil twilight · -6°
Brightest natural objects are still visible; outdoor activities don't need artificial light. Used in many legal definitions of dawn/dusk.
Nautical twilight · -12°
Horizon is just visible at sea, allowing celestial navigation; named for sailors taking sextant fixes.
Astronomical twilight · -18°
Sky is dark enough for deep-sky observation. After astronomical dusk and before astronomical dawn is when astrophotographers shoot.
Solar planning depth
What the Los Angeles daylight curve means
This section turns the chart into readable planning context: latitude, seasonal range, monthly checkpoints, and how the curve should be used.
Solar fingerprint
Los Angeles, United States is modeled at 34.05°N, 118.24°W in America/Los_Angeles. That coordinate pair drives every bar in the 2026 daylight curve.
Seasonal swing
The longest day is Jun 15 at 14h 25m; the shortest is Dec 17 at 9h 53m. The yearly range is 4h 32m, which makes this a moderate seasonal daylight profile.
Latitude context
Los Angeles sits in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude band. Latitude is the main reason two cities in the same timezone can have very different sunrise, sunset, and day-length patterns.
Monthly anchors
Useful checkpoints in this curve: Jan 15 10h 8m, Mar 15 11h 57m, Jun 15 14h 25m, and Sep 15 12h 24m. These anchors help readers see the shape of the year without reading all 365 bars one by one.
Today and twilight
Today in Los Angeles, sunrise is about 6:16 AM, sunset about 4:56 PM, solar noon 11:36 AM, and daylight totals 10h 41m. Civil twilight runs 5:50 AM to 5:22 PM; golden hour windows are 6:00 AM to 6:51 AM and 4:21 PM to 5:12 PM.
Golden hour planning
Today's combined morning + evening golden hour totals 1h 43m. The longest combined golden hour day of 2026 is Dec 21 — 1h 51m. The shortest non-zero day is Sep 21 — 1h 37m. Year-round average is 1h 43m per day across days where a golden-hour window exists.
Twilight ladder
Nautical twilight today: 5:20 AM to 5:52 PM. Astronomical twilight today: 4:51 AM to 6:21 PM. The single longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 occurs on Dec 21 — 11h 8m. 365 days in 2026 include at least some astronomical darkness.
Seasonal momentum
Fastest daily daylight gain: Mar 2 (+3m from the previous day). Fastest daily daylight loss: Sep 6 (-3m from the previous day). Closest 12-hour balance: Mar 16 at 11h 59m (-1m from 12h). Average-month anchors: June average 14h 23m is brightest, while December average 9h 56m is shortest. 69 days reach 14h+ daylight; 35 days stay at 10h or less.
Blue and civil light
Today's combined blue hour totals 20m. The longest combined blue-hour day is Jun 21 — 23m. Blue-hour average is 21m per usable day. The longest civil-twilight-only day is Jun 21 — 58m. Civil twilight averages 53m where both dawn and dusk edges exist.
Sunrise and sunset are approximations for planning and comparison. For legal, aviation, photography, or scientific use, verify with a local almanac or official observatory source.
Frequently asked questions
Los Angeles sun questions
- When is golden hour in Los Angeles?
- Today, the evening golden hour in Los Angeles runs 4:21 PM to 5:12 PM; the morning window is 6:00 AM to 6:51 AM. Combined total today is 1h 43m. Across 2026, the longest combined golden-hour day is Dec 21 — 1h 51m.
- When does civil twilight start and end in Los Angeles?
- Civil twilight in Los Angeles today runs 5:50 AM to 5:22 PM. It's the period when the sun is between -0.833° and -6° elevation; the brightest stars become visible at the dusk boundary.
- What is the longest astronomical-night day of the year in Los Angeles?
- Los Angeles's longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 is Dec 21 — 11h 8m. Astronomical twilight ends when the sun reaches -18° elevation; only beyond that do deep-sky targets become observable.
- Are there white nights in Los Angeles?
- No. Los Angeles's latitude produces a full civil/nautical/astronomical twilight ladder on every day of 2026.
Comparable daylight curves
These are selected by latitude and annual daylight swing, not by the generic city list, so the comparison is tied to Los Angeles's actual solar profile.