DECATUR, IL. (WAND) - Though we are still in the thick of summer across Central Illinois, the daylight hours are continuing to shrink with every day that goes by. We’re about a month into the decreasing daylight since the summer solstice on June 21st, when we saw just short of 15 hours of daylight.
The decrease has been pretty marginal thus far, but in the coming weeks, the decrease in daylight will start becoming much more noticeable. Central Illinois saw roughly 14 hours and 40 minutes of daylight on July 17th, and we are consistently losing around 1:30 to 2 minutes of daylight per day until the end of July. By the month’s end, the total amount of daylight will be around 25 minutes less at 14 hours and 16 minutes.
The decrease in daylight is due to Earth’s tilt on its axis, which, as it moves around the Sun, concentrates more light on different areas of the Earth’s surface. As winter approaches, more sunlight will be concentrated on the Southern Hemisphere in the coming months.
The largest single-day daylight decreases won’t reach our area until late September and early October, when we will lose 2 hours and 35 minutes of daylight. Our trend of losing daylight will continue until the winter solstice on December 21st, when we will finally begin to see daylight increase once more.
Copyright 2026. WANDTV. All Rights Reserved.
