Merced, California Sunset Time Today
Merced sunset and sunrise times, golden hour, blue hour, and how your daylight is changing
Merced, CA · Sunset & sunrise today
Sunset 7:00 PM Sunrise 6:49 AM
12h 11m of daylight, −2m shorter than yesterday.
Tomorrow in Merced · Tue, Sep 22
Sunrise tomorrow: 6:49 AM · Sunset tomorrow: 6:58 PM
Sunrise the same time as today · sunset 2 minutes earlier than today
In Merced, the sun rises at 6:49 AM tomorrow and sets at 6:58 PM.
Golden hour & blue hour today
Morning
Golden hour6:49 AM – 7:24 AM
Blue hour6:24 AM – 6:49 AM
Evening
Golden hour6:28 PM – 7:00 PM
Blue hour7:00 PM – 7:28 PM
Golden hour: the sun between the horizon and 6° up. Blue hour: civil twilight, down to 6° below the horizon.
Sunrise time in Merced
The sun rises in Merced at 6:49 AM today and at 6:49 AM tomorrow (the same time as today).
First light comes before the sun itself: civil twilight — the blue-hour glow already bright enough to see by — begins at 6:24 AM.
For photographers, the morning golden hour — the warm, low-angle light until the sun climbs 6° — runs from 6:49 AM to 7:24 AM.
Sunrise & sunset this week
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 6:49 AM | 7:00 PM | 12h 11m |
| Tue, Sep 22 | 6:49 AM | 6:58 PM | 12h 9m |
| Wed, Sep 23 | 6:50 AM | 6:57 PM | 12h 7m |
| Thu, Sep 24 | 6:51 AM | 6:55 PM | 12h 4m |
| Fri, Sep 25 | 6:52 AM | 6:53 PM | 12h 1m |
| Sat, Sep 26 | 6:53 AM | 6:52 PM | 11h 59m |
| Sun, Sep 27 | 6:54 AM | 6:50 PM | 11h 56m |
Merced daylight month by month
The 1st of each month in 2026, in local time.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7:17 AM | 4:56 PM | 9h 39m |
| Feb | 7:06 AM | 5:27 PM | 10h 21m |
| Mar | 6:34 AM | 5:56 PM | 11h 22m |
| Apr | 6:48 AM | 7:25 PM | 12h 37m |
| May | 6:08 AM | 7:52 PM | 13h 44m |
| Jun | 5:44 AM | 8:18 PM | 14h 34m |
| Jul | 5:46 AM | 8:27 PM | 14h 41m |
| Aug | 6:07 AM | 8:11 PM | 14h 4m |
| Sep | 6:33 AM | 7:32 PM | 12h 59m |
| Oct | 6:58 AM | 6:47 PM | 11h 49m |
| Nov | 6:27 AM | 5:05 PM | 10h 38m |
| Dec | 6:58 AM | 4:46 PM | 9h 47m |
Merced’s longest and shortest days
From 14h 44m of daylight on June 21, 2026 to 9h 35m on December 21, 2026.
| Solar landmark | Date (2026) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|
| Longest day | Jun 21 | 14h 44m |
| Spring equinox | Mar 20 | 12h 8m |
| Fall equinox | Sep 22 | 12h 10m |
| Shortest day | Dec 21 | 9h 35m |
How fast Merced gains and loses daylight
Daily rate at mid-month; net change across the month.
| Month | Daily rate | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | gaining 1m 20s a day | +42m |
| Feb | gaining 2m 13s a day | +1h 1m |
| Mar | gaining 2m 25s a day | +1h 14m |
| Apr | gaining 2m 17s a day | +1h 7m |
| May | gaining 1m 41s a day | +50m |
| Jun | gaining 19s a day | +8m |
| Jul | losing 1m 11s a day | −38m |
| Aug | losing 2m 5s a day | −1h 5m |
| Sep | losing 2m 22s a day | −1h 11m |
| Oct | losing 2m 18s a day | −1h 11m |
| Nov | losing 1m 46s a day | −51m |
| Dec | losing 23s a day | −9m |
Merced golden hour & blue hour by season
The same altitude-based windows as today’s card, at each solstice and equinox.
| Season | Evening gold | Evening blue | Morning gold | Morning blue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring equinox | 6:40–7:14 PM | 7:14–7:40 PM | 7:06–7:41 AM | 6:40–7:06 AM |
| Summer solstice | 7:48–8:26 PM | 8:26–8:58 PM | 5:42–6:21 AM | 5:11–5:42 AM |
| Fall equinox | 6:26–7:00 PM | 7:00–7:26 PM | 6:51–7:25 AM | 6:24–6:51 AM |
| Winter solstice | 4:08–4:48 PM | 4:48–5:18 PM | 7:13–7:54 AM | 6:44–7:13 AM |
Daylight saving time in Merced
Clocks move an hour; the daylight doesn’t change.
| Clock change | Date (2026) | UTC offset |
|---|---|---|
| Spring forward | Sun, Mar 8 | UTC−7 |
| Fall back | Sun, Nov 1 | UTC−8 |
Why sunset time shifts in Merced
Sunset drifts through the year with Earth’s ~23.4° axial tilt — see the full daylight explainer.
In Merced, the longest day carries about 14h 44m of daylight and the shortest just 9h 35m — a swing of roughly 5h 9m between the June and December solstices. The farther a place sits from the equator, the wider that gap; the pace also isn’t steady, moving fastest near the equinoxes and barely at all near the solstices. Every figure here is computed from the sun’s position for Merced’s exact coordinates, in local time.
Frequently asked
- When is the earliest and latest sunset in Merced?
- Merced's earliest sunset in 2026 is 4:45 PM around December 6, 15 days before the shortest day. The latest is 8:27 PM around June 28, 7 days after the longest day. Both are local clock times.
- How much daylight does Merced get on the longest and shortest days?
- Merced gets about 14h 44m of daylight on the longest day, June 21, 2026, and 9h 35m on the shortest, December 21, 2026: a swing of 5h 9m.
- When is golden hour in Merced?
- Near the June solstice, Merced's evening golden hour runs 7:48–8:26 PM and the morning one 5:42–6:21 AM. Near the December solstice they run 4:08–4:48 PM and 7:13–7:54 AM. Golden hour here is the time the sun spends between the horizon and 6° up.
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