PORTLAND, Ore. — It was great while it lasted, but the long summer days are coming to an end this week. Thursday night will be Portland's last sunset after 7 p.m. until the spring. The sun will set on the Rose City at 7:01 p.m. tonight before slipping to 6:59 p.m. on Friday.

Thursday also marks another significant milestone heading into the winter season: it's the first day with fewer than 12 hours of daylight. The sun rose at 7:02 a.m. Thursday morning, for a total day length of 11 hours, 59 minutes and 33 seconds.

In a spooky coincidence, our last 6 p.m. sunset will fall just shy of Halloween on Oct. 29. Then, on Nov. 2, the sun will set before 5 p.m. as Daylight Savings Time comes to an end.

Days have been getting shorter in the northern hemisphere since the summer solstice — June

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