Deconstruct SunAnchorage, AK: Hardiness Zone 5b & Sunlight by Season
Anchorage is in USDA hardiness zone 5b. Here’s what that means for winter, plus sunrise, sunset, daylight hours and the sun’s path through the year.
Zone 5b in Anchorage
On the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Anchorage falls in zone 5b. That means the coldest night of a typical winter drops to between −15 and −10 °F. Perennials, shrubs and trees labeled for zone 5b or colder (a lower number) should survive the winter here. Parts of the area sit near the boundary with zone 5a, so a sheltered courtyard or an exposed hilltop can behave like the neighboring zone.
A zone only covers winter cold. For a plant to do well it also needs the right amount of sun, and that varies far more from one corner of a yard to the next than the zone does across town.
This is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Zones are derived from the official 2023 dataset, resampled to about 2 km.
Nearby cities
- Fairbanks, AK Zone 2a
- Juneau, AK Zone 7a
- Bellingham, WA Zone 8b
- Everett, WA Zone 8b
- Seattle, WA Zone 9a
- Bellevue, WA Zone 9a
- Olympia, WA Zone 8b
- Tacoma, WA Zone 8b
The sun over Anchorage
On the June solstice the sun rises in the northeast at 4:20 AM and climbs to 52° above the horizon at 2:01 PM. On the December solstice the noon sun reaches only 6°, so a 20-foot tree casts a noon shadow about 208 feet long. In June the same tree’s noon shadow is only 16 feet.
Sunrise, sunset & daylight by month
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight | Noon sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21 | 9:44 AM | 4:37 PM | 6h 53m | 9° |
| Feb 21 | 8:23 AM | 6:03 PM | 9h 40m | 18° |
| Mar 21 | 7:56 AM | 8:18 PM | 12h 21m | 29° |
| Apr 21 | 6:19 AM | 9:38 PM | 15h 19m | 41° |
| May 21 | 4:57 AM | 10:56 PM | 18h 00m | 49° |
| Jun 21 | 4:20 AM | 11:42 PM | 19h 22m | 52° |
| Jul 21 | 5:05 AM | 11:05 PM | 18h 00m | 49° |
| Aug 21 | 6:24 AM | 9:39 PM | 15h 15m | 41° |
| Sep 21 | 7:41 AM | 8:01 PM | 12h 20m | 29° |
| Oct 21 | 8:58 AM | 6:28 PM | 9h 30m | 18° |
| Nov 21 | 9:22 AM | 4:08 PM | 6h 46m | 9° |
| Dec 21 | 10:14 AM | 3:41 PM | 5h 27m | 6° |
Local time (Anchorage), including daylight saving time. “Noon sun” is the sun’s height above the horizon at solar noon.
Daylight through the year
What “full sun” means in Anchorage
Full sun is 6+ hours of direct sun. In Anchorage an open spot has 19.4 hours of daylight to work with in June and 5.5 in December, so a bed that clears 6 hours in summer can easily drop to part shade in winter once the low sun slips behind trees and houses.
Measure the sun in your Anchorage yard
Daylight is the ceiling. Deconstruct Sun traces the trees and buildings around one exact spot and tells you its real direct-sun hours, today and at every solstice and equinox.
Questions
What hardiness zone is Anchorage, AK in?
Anchorage, Alaska is in USDA plant hardiness zone 5b on the 2023 map. The average coldest winter night is −15 to −10 °F (−26.1 to −23.3 °C). It is near the boundary with zone 5a.
How many hours of daylight does Anchorage get?
About 19.4 hours on the June solstice (sunrise 4:20 AM, sunset 11:42 PM) and 5.5 hours on the December solstice (sunrise 10:14 AM, sunset 3:41 PM). Around the equinoxes it is close to 12 hours.
How many hours of sun does my Anchorage yard get?
Up to the daylight hours above, minus whatever trees, buildings and fences block. In winter, when the sun stays low, that can be most of it. The Deconstruct Sun iPhone app measures the real direct-sun hours for one exact spot by having you trace what is around it.
When is the best time to plant in Anchorage?
Zone 5b tells you which perennials survive winter, not planting dates. For timing, use your local average frost dates from your county extension office, and choose plants rated for zone 5b or colder.
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023. Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, planthardiness.ars.usda.gov. Underlying data © PRISM Group, Oregon State University, prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed 2026-08-30. Sun times calculated for 61.218, -149.900.