Winter Solstice and What It Means for Your Oregon / Washington Coast Sunset Shots

Published 12/18/24 at 8:25 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Yachats, Oregon) - Any minute now it will be the famed and twinkly Winter Solstice. The astronomical event that essentially gave us the Christmas celebration this time of year happens on Saturday, December 21, bringing a slow rise to longer days and some awesome aspects for your sunset shots on the Oregon coast and Washington coast. (Above: Lincoln City in winter / Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

According to astronomy expert Jim Todd at Portland's OMSI, the Winter Solstice officially begins at 1:20 a.m. that morning.

“This date is the Winter Solstice, the day on which the Earth's northern pole is tipped away from the sun,” Todd told Oregon Coast Beach Connection.

If you're in Portland – for example – Todd said you'll see the sun reach its lowest southern point at 21.5 degrees on the southern horizon on the winter solstice. At noon in this part of the Pacific Northwest, the sun gets directly over the Tropic of Capricorn.

Those unlucky enough to be in the polar regions of Earth will experience night for a total of 24 hours.

Which means those of us in Washington and Oregon are lucky, believe it or not. Right now, sunset is starting to happen a minute later just about every day.

“On December 17-25, we will have nearly 8 hours and 42 minutes of daylight to enjoy,” Todd said.

Port Orford, photo Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts

Yet there's a caveat here: though sunset gets later so does sunrise – at least until December 26. Daylight hours shift slightly in an odd way for about a week. Starting December 27, sunrise stays at 7:50 a.m. for awhile as sunset ticks upward by about a minute each day. Then by January 9, sunset is almost 15 minutes later and sunrise finally ticks down to 7:49 a.m. Those are Portland times: areas on the coast such as Seaview, La Push, Bandon or Newport will vary quite a bit.

A funky little fact: sunset on the Oregon coast or Washington beaches happens a few minutes to 10 minutes later than the I-5 Corridor, depending where you are along the shoreline. The difference is more pronounced between the beaches and valley on Oregon's northern half.

“The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol-stadium, for sun-standing,” Todd said. “The winter solstice is when the sun stops its southern climb and stands briefly before turning back toward the equator. Winter solstice celebrations were so widespread in our Western culture that the early Christian church decided to move Christmas to the time of the solstice.”

Also see When the Green Flash and Oregon Coast Whale Research Meet: Science Explanation - Researcher captures green flash; explanation of that and Novaya Zemlya

Some of your sunset shots on the coastline will improve this time of year. In fact, one scientist, NOAA's Stephen F. Corfidi, called winter “sunset peak season.”

Sunsets are actually more intense in winter, say experts like Todd and Corfidi. There's real data to support that.

Yachats

“Because of the low angle of the sun's arc, it will produce the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets of the year,” Todd said.

Yet maybe the biggest factor is the cleaner air this time of year. The haze of spring's damp air or summer and fall's more particle-filled skies tend to subdue colors of the sunset. When it's cold out, there's less of that.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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