Your Location Inside the Time Zone Determines Your Daylight Hours
Can I just say how very, very happy I am that the days are getting longer, that it is not pitch dark by 5pm? When we get into the depths of winter here in Kentucky, I count the days once we hit December 21, waiting for the days to get longer. I really almost don't mind the cold temps as long as there is sunlight. And at least it has not been as dreadfully gloomy this winter as it was last year. I remember counting only about 3 days of sunshine in January of 2010. Yuck!
What I have found to be, by far, one the hardest things to adjust to since moving from Los Angeles, Ca to Lexington, Ky is the difference in the time of sunrise. I can sort of handle the sun being lower in the sky during the day, especially in winter, but I really have a problem with daybreak not hitting the sky until 7am and the sun not rising until almost 7:30am.
Having grown up in southern California, I always assumed that the time of sunrise had to do with how close we were to the equator. But I have noticed since moving to Lexington, that the sun rises at about the same time, no matter the season. Even in summer, in Lexington, it is still fairly dark at 7am (after the time change kicks in, of course). I am used to daybreak occurring around 6:30am and the sun being up over the horizon already by 7am. Not having the sun up by then makes it really hard for me to wake up in the morning! So why, I wondered, was the sunrise so late here in Lexington?
I could not figure this out until my dentist, of all people, provided the answer. I was having this very conversation with the assistant, when my dentist walked in and explained that it has more to do with where you are located within the time zone - i.e. how far east or west you are inside the time zone.
Los Angeles, Ca, for example, is less than halfway into the time zone from the eastern side, so their sunrise will be average for the time zone. Lexington, Ky, on the other hand, is virtually at the western edge of its time zone. If I drive just a couple hours west, I would cross over the time zone and what was 7am in Kentucky, is 6am in Indiana, so they do get the sunrise at 6am! So, even though we are in the same time zone as Maine (eastern time zone) , they get the sunrise a lot earlier than we do. In February 2011, for example, the sun will be rising between 6:30am and 7am in Augusta, Maine, at about 7am in Charleston, SC, and between 7:20am and 7:30am in Lexington, Ky. All three cities are within the same time zone, but experience very different sunrise times.
The flip side of this late sunrise problem is that, here in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, we have really late daylight hours during the summer. While the sun sets earlier in other areas, Lexington has daylight until almost 10pm at the height of summer, which makes for some really great outdoor activities such as sports, barbeques, gardening etc. On the other hand, I would hate to have to put children to bed when there is still sunlight - that makes it tough to get sleep. So, there are pros and cons to it, of course.
So I guess this would definitely be something to consider if you are affected greatly by sunlight and are thinking of relocating to Lexington, Ky or anywhere for that matter. Where you live in the time zone will determine your daylight hours, and that might be important to you. If you are a morning lark, you may want to live at the eastern edge of the time zone to get an early sunrise. Night owls might do better at the western edge of a time zone. Do you need sunshine early in the morning or late at night? Are you a morning lark or a night owl?
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