The first day of fall has come and gone, and now Seattle is about to take another major step towards what locals call The Big Dark. Today Seattleites will see the last 7:00 p.m. sunset of 2025. After today—Thursday, September 25—the sun will start setting just before 7:00.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the sun will set in Seattle at 7:00 p.m. on September 25. Next month the sun will go from setting at 6:47 on October 1 to setting at 5:52 on October 31—a gradual change, to be sure. Then November arrives and with it, the end of daylight saving time.
On November 2, 2025, daylight saving time ends and the sunset time will be an hour earlier. This means that we’ll go from a 5:51 p.m. sunset on November 1 to a 4:49 p.m. sunset on November 2. By the time we get to the winter solstice on December 21, Seattle will be seeing a total of about 8 hours of daylight. Compare that to the 12 hours of daylight we got today and the 16 hours of sunlight at the summer’s peak, and you’ll understand why we call winter in Seattle “The Big Dark.”
The 7:00 p.m. sunsets will return to Seattle in early March 2026, but in the meantime there will be plenty of fall and winter fun to be had. Although it’s always hard to say goodbye to the long days of perfect summer weather in Seattle, the shorter days signal the return of some of our favorite fall festivities! Check out our most popular guides to fall in Seattle:
- 35 festive things to do this October in Seattle.
- Seattle’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival is back in a new location this October.
- One of the scariest haunted houses in the country is reopening its doors in Seattle this fall.
- The 8 best pumpkin patches near Seattle.
- The top 20 things to do for Halloween in Seattle in 2025.
- Here’s when Seattle’s fall foliage will peak this year.
- 45 ideas for your Seattle fall bucket list.
Happy fall, Seattle!