Charleston, West Virginia Sunrise & Sunset Times

Charleston, the capital of West Virginia, is cradled in a narrow valley at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers, with forested Appalachian ridges rising steeply on every side. This compact capital city has a dramatic setting — the gold-leafed dome of the State Capitol, one of the tallest in the nation, stands against a backdrop of wooded mountains that shift from deep green in summer to a blaze of scarlet and gold in autumn. The humid continental climate brings warm, rain-soaked summers and cold winters when fog often settles into the river valleys.

Around the summer solstice, the sun rises at 06:01 and sets at 20:55, giving you 14 hours 53 minutes of daylight — ample time to raft the New River Gorge, explore the Capitol Market's local vendors, and still watch the last light fade over the Kanawha Valley from a riverside park. During the winter solstice, sunrise arrives at 07:38 and sunset at 17:10, with only about 9 hours 32 minutes of daylight. The surrounding mountains delay the visible sunrise and hasten sunset, making winter days feel even shorter in the valley, though the low sun creates striking contrasts of light and shadow on the ridgelines.

The swing in sunrise times between summer and winter is about 97 minutes. The morning blue hour (05:31 – 06:01) and golden hour (06:01 – 07:01) offer breathtaking views from the south bank of the Kanawha River, where dawn light catches the Capitol dome's gold leaf and turns it into a beacon above the mist. In the evening, the golden hour (19:55 – 20:55) through blue hour (20:55 – 21:25) is best savored from Coonskin Park or the overlooks along Kanawha Boulevard, where the river reflects the fading sky and the mountain silhouettes layer into shades of blue and purple — a quintessentially Appalachian scene.