DARK BY 5PM TODAY BUT SOON IT’LL BE ALL SUN AND GAMES
HALLELUJAH! After today we’ll emerge from the depths of winter and march back toward the long, sunny warm days the Gold Coast is so well known for.
Be prepared for today to be exceptionally brief though – it’s the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.
The sun will rise at a late 6.37am and set at the early time of 4.58pm, giving us only 10 hours and 21 minutes of sunlight.
It’ll be tough rising out of bed for the next month or so with the sun not creeping above the horizon until after 6.30am.
Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said it coincides with morning temperatures generally plummeting to the low single digits.
“Typically the coldest mornings on the Gold Coast tend to occur in late July, early August when offshore seas are at their coolest,” he said. “The Gold Coast winter will be slightly warmer than average and rainfall will be fairly close to average.”
Here’s what we’ve got to look forward to:
• On July 29 the sun will start rising earlier, breaking the 6.30am mark. It’ll go down at 5.15pm.
• By August 31, sunrise will be 6.01am and sunset at 5.32pm.
• There’ll be more than 12 hours of sunlight by September 27 when the sun rises at 5.30am and sets at 5.44pm.
• The sun will rise the earliest all year on November 30 when it wakes us at 4.41am.