How to Deal With It Getting Dark Early in New Orleans

Short answer: get morning light and plan evenings you look forward to.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine calls light and darkness the body’s most powerful timing cues, and the National Institute of Mental Health’s therapy for seasonal depression includes scheduling pleasant activities. The US Naval Observatory puts New Orleans sunset at 5:13 pm on November 1 and 5:00 pm by December.

One easy plan for those evenings is to book a private infrared sauna at NOLA Chill, where 30 minutes is $30 on your own or $48 for two and you pay after your visit, at 6045 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans, open 7 days and until 7 pm on weekdays, so a sauna after work is now a sauna after dark. It is a warm half hour to look forward to on the drive home, and it is not a treatment for low mood.

If a low mood lasts most of the day, nearly every day, for two weeks or more, talk with a doctor or a therapist. If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is free, confidential and open any time of day or night, and in a life-threatening emergency call 911.

How early it gets dark in New Orleans this winter

Sunset in New Orleans moved about an hour earlier on November 1 and keeps creeping earlier for four more weeks before it turns around. The earliest sunsets of the year, at 5:00 pm, come from November 29 to December 4, nearly three weeks before the shortest day on December 21, so the evenings start getting a little longer before Christmas even though sunrise keeps getting later into January.

Times are the US Naval Observatory’s figures for 6045 Magazine Street, read on October 29, 2026. Other parts of the city can differ by about a minute.

It gets dark so early now for two reasons at once. The clock change moved an hour of daylight from the evening to the morning, and the days themselves keep getting shorter until December 21: by the Naval Observatory’s figures, New Orleans has 10 hours 59 minutes of daylight on November 1 and 10 hours 13 minutes on December 21, so the sun is up about 46 minutes less by the solstice.

Standard time does not take any daylight away. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine points out that neither standard time nor daylight time gives more light or darkness than the other, since only the timing changes, and in standard time more of the day’s light comes in the morning, with sunrise near 6:15 am in early November. The last usable light after sunset, which the Naval Observatory calls civil twilight, lasts about 25 minutes more, until 5:38 pm on November 1.

Why the early dark can weigh on your mood

For most people the early dark means a few weeks of feeling a little off, and for some it brings a lower mood that deserves attention. The National Institute of Mental Health says many people feel down or have the winter blues when the days get shorter and feel better in the spring, and that seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression with a seasonal pattern, is more common farther north, where winter days are shorter: people in Alaska or New England are more likely to develop it than people in Texas or Florida.

The clock change itself has been studied too. A Danish registry study of 185,419 hospital contacts from 1995 to 2012 found an 11 percent rise in hospital diagnoses of depression after the change from summer time to standard time, fading over about 10 weeks, with no matching change after the spring change, and the authors suggest that the distress of sunset suddenly coming an hour earlier, at the start of a long stretch of short days, may explain it. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine also notes that the spring and fall time changes have been linked with mood disturbances and suicide. Studies like these show patterns across many people rather than what the dark will do to any one person, and Denmark’s winter days are far shorter than ours.

The dark can also make you feel tired before it is late. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says we are more alert in bright daylight and sleepier in darkness, because light and darkness are the most powerful timing cues for alertness and sleepiness, so an evening that is dark by 5 pm can feel later than the clock says, and the same page notes that the fall time change itself can disrupt your sleep schedule for a while.

What helps when it gets dark early, honestly

The steps with the best support are simple, and the research behind most of them is thinner than the usual advice lists suggest.

Get daylight early. Because light and darkness set the body clock, a walk or a coffee outside before work puts you in the morning light, which is the easiest way to use the daylight you have now. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine advises at least seven hours of sleep a night for adults, and eight for teens, around the time change.

Plan the evenings on purpose. NIMH describes a talk therapy for seasonal affective disorder, called CBT-SAD, that runs in two weekly group sessions for 6 weeks and uses a step called behavioral activation, which helps people pick and schedule enjoyable things to do, indoors or out, to make up for the loss of interest many people feel in winter. You do not need a diagnosis to borrow the idea: put something you enjoy on the calendar for the evenings that are dark by 5 pm, whether that is dinner with a friend, a class, a walk with the dog or a warm half hour somewhere quiet.

Treat a light box as a medical tool. NIMH describes light therapy as a mainstay for winter-pattern seasonal affective disorder: a very bright light box of 10,000 lux, about 20 times brighter than ordinary indoor light, used for about 30 to 45 minutes every day, usually first thing in the morning, from fall to spring. People with certain eye diseases, or who take medicines that make them more sensitive to sunlight, may need another treatment or medical supervision. A 2020 review of 19 randomized trials found bright light worked better than placebo for seasonal affective disorder, though the trials were small and varied and the review rated their risk of bias moderate to high, so it is worth choosing a light box and a schedule with your doctor.

The Celluma at NOLA Chill is not a light box. Celluma is an LED light panel, it is not a light therapy box for mood, and NOLA Chill does not offer it as one or as a stand-in for a doctor’s care.

Lifestyle tips are sensible, but unproven for seasonal depression. A 2024 systematic review looked for randomized trials of lifestyle changes in people with seasonal affective disorder, such as diet, exercise, time outdoors and sleep, found only 6, rated the risk of bias high and the certainty of the evidence very low, and concluded that no valid conclusion could be drawn. That does not mean a walk or a good night’s sleep is useless, only that nobody has shown how much they help with seasonal depression itself.

Be easy to see on the walk home. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study of 2010 to 2019 found that fatal crashes involving people walking or cycling rose 13 percent in the 5 weeks after the fall time change, at the times of day when the light changed, so a light and something reflective are worth putting on if you walk the dog or ride a bike home after 5 pm.

Where a sauna fits on a dark evening

A sauna will not bring the sun back, but it can be the warm thing you look forward to after a dark drive home. The private infrared sauna room at NOLA Chill, 6045 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans, is open until 7 pm on weekdays, so a 30-minute visit fits after work even with a 5 pm sunset. The sauna is set to about 175 F (80 C), with the room air usually in the 150s and a lower setting on request, and the full 30 or 45 minutes is your time in the room. On a rainy night you can hear the rain on the roof from inside the sauna room with the music off or low, and in a hard rain it is loud.

Thirty minutes is $30 for one person or $48 for two, and 45 minutes is $40 or $64 for two, with no membership needed, and you pay after your visit. If you want a standing plan for the dark months, the Chill membership is $85 a month for 2 sessions, the 30-minute sauna among them, with 20% off anything extra and a three-month minimum, and the memberships page and the pricing page have every option.

In a 2019 international online survey of 482 regular sauna users, relaxation and stress relief were among the main reasons people gave for going, and 83.5 percent reported sleep benefits, but the people who answered chose to, so it shows why sauna users go rather than what a sauna does for everyone. A sauna does not treat or prevent depression or seasonal affective disorder, and it does not replace care or any medicine you take.

If you would rather skip the heat, NuCalm is a 30-minute guided audio and eye mask relaxation session for $40. Our cold or rainy day sauna guide covers what a visit is like, and the infrared sauna page has the room details.

NOLA Chill is open 7 days: Mon to Fri 9am to 7pm, Sat 9am to 4pm, Sun 10am to 3pm, with off-street parking in front of the studio, so a weekday visit can come well after sunset.

When it is more than the dark

The winter blues and depression are not the same thing, and the difference is how long it lasts and how much it gets in the way of your life. NIMH lists signs of depression that include a sad, anxious or empty mood most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks, along with hopelessness and losing interest in things you used to enjoy, and for the winter pattern it adds oversleeping, craving carbohydrates and pulling away from people, which NIMH describes as feeling like hibernating. A diagnosis of seasonal affective disorder needs that pattern to come back in the same season for at least 2 years in a row.

If that sounds like you, or a low mood gets in the way of work, sleep or the people around you, talk with a doctor or a therapist. NIMH lists light therapy, talk therapy, antidepressant medicine and vitamin D as the main kinds of treatment a health care provider may talk through with you, though it notes that the studies of vitamin D are mixed. If you or someone you know is struggling or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org, and in a life-threatening situation call 911.

What is still unknown

No study has compared ways of coping with the early dark in people who do not have seasonal affective disorder, and the trials of lifestyle changes in people who do are too few and too small to judge. The Danish study shows a rise in depression diagnoses after the fall change across a whole country, not why any one person feels worse, and a sauna is a comfort on a dark evening rather than a proven treatment for anything on this page.

Who should skip the sauna or ask first

Heat is not right for everyone. Skip the sauna, or check with your healthcare professional first, if any of these apply to you, and step out early if you feel dizzy or unwell.

• A fever or an active illness. Our page on using a sauna when you are sick covers when to wait.
• Pregnancy.
• High blood pressure that is not under control, or unstable heart disease.
• After drinking alcohol, or when you are dehydrated.
• Heat sensitivity, such as with multiple sclerosis.
• Medicines that change sweating, blood pressure or heart rate. A pharmacist can tell you whether yours do.

More for the dark and rainy weeks

• When the clocks change in 2026, with New Orleans sunsets
• How to prepare for the time change
• How long it takes to adjust to the time change
• A sauna on a cold or rainy day in New Orleans
• What a super El Niño winter means for New Orleans
• Where to unwind in New Orleans
• A sleep and stress reset with NuCalm and the sauna
• Our evidence library, with the studies behind every service

How we checked

Sunrise, sunset and twilight times are the US Naval Observatory’s figures for 6045 Magazine Street, in daylight time for October 31 and in standard time after that. What light does to the body clock and the sleep advice come from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and what seasonal affective disorder is, its signs, light therapy and CBT-SAD come from the National Institute of Mental Health. The depression, light therapy, lifestyle, crash and sauna survey figures are from the five studies below, and the crisis line details are from the 988 Lifeline. We read each source on October 29, 2026.

• US Naval Observatory, sun and moon data for one day
• American Academy of Sleep Medicine, daylight saving time
• National Institute of Mental Health, seasonal affective disorder
• Hansen and others, Epidemiology, 2017: the clock change and hospital diagnoses of depression in Denmark
• Pjrek and others, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 2020: light therapy for seasonal affective disorder, a review of 19 trials
• Rothenberg and others, Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2024: lifestyle changes for seasonal affective disorder, a systematic review
• Woods and others, Journal of Safety Research, 2025: daylight saving time and fatal crashes
• Hussain and others, 2019: an international online survey of sauna users
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Frequently asked questions

Does it get dark earlier after daylight saving time ends?

Yes, by the clock. When the clocks fell back at 2 am on Sunday, November 1, 2026, sunset in New Orleans moved from 6:14 pm the day before to 5:13 pm, by the US Naval Observatory’s figures. The day itself was only about a minute shorter, because the change moved an hour of daylight from the evening to the morning.

Why does it get dark so early now?

Two things are happening at once. The clocks fell back on November 1, which moved an hour of daylight from the evening to the morning, and the days are still getting shorter until the solstice on December 21. By the US Naval Observatory’s figures, New Orleans has 10 hours 59 minutes of daylight on November 1 and 10 hours 13 minutes on December 21, and sunset is at its earliest, 5:00 pm, from November 29 to December 4.

What can you do when it gets dark early in New Orleans?

Get outside in the morning light and put something you enjoy on the calendar for the dark evenings, which is the idea behind the behavioral activation step in NIMH’s talk therapy for seasonal depression. The private infrared sauna at NOLA Chill, 6045 Magazine Street, is open until 7 pm on weekdays, at $30 for 30 minutes or $48 for two, and you pay after your visit.

What are the effects of it getting dark earlier?

Many people feel a little off for a few weeks and sleepier in the evening, since the American Academy of Sleep Medicine says light and darkness are the body’s most powerful timing cues for alertness and sleepiness. Some people feel a lower mood: NIMH says many people feel down or have the winter blues when the days get shorter, and a Danish registry study found an 11 percent rise in hospital diagnoses of depression after the fall clock change, fading over about 10 weeks. Walking and cycling after dark also carry more risk, so wear a light. If a low mood lasts two weeks or more, talk with a doctor or a therapist, and anyone in crisis can call or text 988.

Do shorter days make you tired?

They can. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says light and darkness are the most powerful timing cues for alertness and sleepiness, and that we are sleepier in darkness, so an evening that is dark by 5 pm can feel later than it is. The fall time change can also disrupt your sleep schedule for a few days, and the AASM advises at least seven hours of sleep a night for adults and eight for teens around the change. It also says we are more alert in bright daylight, so a walk outside in the morning uses the light you have.

Is it seasonal depression or just the dark?

Many people feel down when the days get shorter and better in the spring, which NIMH calls the winter blues. Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression, with signs such as a sad or empty mood most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks, in a pattern that comes back in the same season for at least 2 years in a row. A doctor or a mental health specialist can help you tell the two apart.

Do light boxes help when it gets dark early?

For diagnosed seasonal affective disorder, NIMH calls light therapy a mainstay: a 10,000 lux light box for about 30 to 45 minutes a day, usually first thing in the morning, from fall to spring. A 2020 review of 19 trials found it worked better than placebo, though the trials were small. Choose one with a clinician’s advice, especially if you have an eye condition or take a medicine that makes you sensitive to light.

When will it stop getting dark so early?

The earliest sunsets in New Orleans, at 5:00 pm, come from November 29 to December 4, nearly three weeks before the shortest day on December 21. Sunset then moves later, to 5:12 pm by January 1 and 5:17 pm by January 8, and the clocks spring forward again on Sunday, March 14, 2027.

NOLA Chill is a wellness studio at 6045 Magazine Street in New Orleans, not a medical clinic, and a sauna visit is not a treatment for depression, seasonal affective disorder or any other condition.