Dear Tom,
Which U.S. city, excluding those in Alaska and Hawaii, receives the longest and latest sunlight in winter?
Derek Meier
Dear Derek,
The residents of Key West, Florida, the southernmost city in the contiguous 48 states, are the recipients of the greatest amount of daylight on the winter solstice, the day in the Northern Hemisphere with the least amount of daylight. At Key West 10 hours and 37 minutes elapse between sunrise and sunset, five more minutes of sunshine than Miami and six more than Brownsville, Texas, runners-up in the sunshine competition. Excluding towns in Alaska makes no difference with the long hours of winter darkness there, but if Hawaii were to be included, the Big Island’s town of Ka Lae, the southernmost point in the United States, would take all honors with 10:59 minutes of daylight between sunrise and sunset.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
