Sunrise & Sunset Times at the Tidal Basin, Washington DC

If you’re heading down to take photos of the cherry blossoms at sunrise or sunset, here are the sunrise and sunset times for the coming four weeks.

Cherry Blossoms - April 2, 2015
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The cherry blossoms reached peak bloom on March 17, 2024. That's the second-earliest on record.

RELATED:
Latest Updates on the 2024 Bloom
Peak Bloom Forecasts in Detail

If you’re looking to take advantage of the beautiful light shortly after sunrise or the warm glow just before sunset, or maybe you just want to use the sun in your photo, here are the sunrise and sunset times at the Tidal Basin for the upcoming four weeks.

The times below are all the official, technical times. But in practice, there’s some padding to take into account. They assume a perfectly clear view of a flat horizon. But even though DC doesn’t have traditional skyscrapers, there are still buildings on the horizon. And the Tidal Basin lies at a low point. So the times you actually get a visual on sunrise and sunset deviate a bit from the astronomical times.

In the case of sunrise at the Tidal Basin, we have to wait for the sun to get over some buildings. Depending on where you are along the Tidal Basin waterfront and the precise direction of the sunrise that morning, some of the buildings to contend with are the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, or the Jefferson Memorial. What that means in practice is that you can safely add at least 10-12 minutes to the times below before you’re likely to see the edges of the sun itself.

With sunset, you have the reverse as the sun disappears behind the buildings of Rosslyn and the hills of Arlington. So you should subtract about the same amount of time from the sunset times.

The same thing affects the angle of the sun. In that extra 10-15 minutes or so, the sun will move a few degrees. If you want a very accurate calculator that takes that into account, check out the Helios Sun Position Calculator app.

Predawn is also a very good time to get reflections off the Tidal Basin itself. It’s likely to be the stillest part of the day (and probably the coolest).

Sunrise & Sunset Times at the Tidal Basin

Sunrise & Sunset in Tidal Basin, Washington DC

DateEventTime
TodaySunrise:
Sunset:
07:12
19:20
TomorrowSunrise:
Sunset:
07:11
19:21
March 20Sunrise:
Sunset:
07:09
19:22
March 21Sunrise:
Sunset:
07:07
19:23
March 22Sunrise:
Sunset:
07:06
19:24
March 23Sunrise:
Sunset:
07:04
19:25
March 24Sunrise:
Sunset:
07:03
19:26
March 25Sunrise:
Sunset:
07:01
19:27
March 26Sunrise:
Sunset:
07:00
19:28
March 27Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:58
19:29
March 28Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:56
19:30
March 29Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:55
19:31
March 30Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:53
19:32
March 31Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:52
19:32
April 1Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:50
19:33
April 2Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:49
19:34
April 3Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:47
19:35
April 4Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:46
19:36
April 5Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:44
19:37
April 6Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:42
19:38
April 7Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:41
19:39
April 8Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:39
19:40
April 9Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:38
19:41
April 10Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:36
19:42
April 11Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:35
19:43
April 12Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:33
19:44
April 13Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:32
19:45
April 14Sunrise:
Sunset:
06:31
19:46

Smartphone Apps

There are some very handy smartphone apps that will tell you–and often show you–where the sun will be at any given time at any location. Some even have a heads-up display that uses your phone’s camera so you can see it exactly from the spot you’re standing at. I have a roundup of these apps for tracking the sun and moon here.

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