Deconstruct SunTacoma, WA: Hardiness Zone 8b & Sunlight by Season
Tacoma is in USDA hardiness zone 8b. Here’s what that means for winter, plus sunrise, sunset, daylight hours and the sun’s path through the year.
Zone 8b in Tacoma
On the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Tacoma falls in zone 8b. That means the coldest night of a typical winter drops to between 15 and 20 °F. Perennials, shrubs and trees labeled for zone 8b or colder (a lower number) should survive the winter here. Parts of the area sit near the boundary with zone 9a, 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
- Kent, WA Zone 8b
- Olympia, WA Zone 8b
- Seattle, WA Zone 9a
- Bellevue, WA Zone 9a
- Everett, WA Zone 8b
- Wenatchee, WA Zone 7b
- Yakima, WA Zone 7a
- Bellingham, WA Zone 8b
The sun over Tacoma
On the June solstice the sun rises in the northeast at 5:13 AM and climbs to 66° above the horizon at 1:11 PM. On the December solstice the noon sun reaches only 19°, so a 20-foot tree casts a noon shadow about 57 feet long. In June the same tree’s noon shadow is only 9 feet.
Sunrise, sunset & daylight by month
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight | Noon sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21 | 7:47 AM | 4:55 PM | 9h 08m | 23° |
| Feb 21 | 7:04 AM | 5:43 PM | 10h 39m | 32° |
| Mar 21 | 7:10 AM | 7:24 PM | 12h 14m | 43° |
| Apr 21 | 6:10 AM | 8:07 PM | 13h 57m | 55° |
| May 21 | 5:26 AM | 8:47 PM | 15h 20m | 63° |
| Jun 21 | 5:13 AM | 9:09 PM | 15h 56m | 66° |
| Jul 21 | 5:35 AM | 8:56 PM | 15h 21m | 63° |
| Aug 21 | 6:14 AM | 8:10 PM | 13h 56m | 55° |
| Sep 21 | 6:55 AM | 7:09 PM | 12h 14m | 43° |
| Oct 21 | 7:37 AM | 6:10 PM | 10h 34m | 32° |
| Nov 21 | 7:22 AM | 4:28 PM | 9h 05m | 23° |
| Dec 21 | 7:53 AM | 4:22 PM | 8h 28m | 19° |
Local time (Los Angeles), 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 Tacoma
Full sun is 6+ hours of direct sun. In Tacoma an open spot has 15.9 hours of daylight to work with in June and 8.5 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 Tacoma 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 Tacoma, WA in?
Tacoma, Washington is in USDA plant hardiness zone 8b on the 2023 map. The average coldest winter night is 15 to 20 °F (−9.4 to −6.7 °C). It is near the boundary with zone 9a.
How many hours of daylight does Tacoma get?
About 15.9 hours on the June solstice (sunrise 5:13 AM, sunset 9:09 PM) and 8.5 hours on the December solstice (sunrise 7:53 AM, sunset 4:22 PM). Around the equinoxes it is close to 12 hours.
How many hours of sun does my Tacoma 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 Tacoma?
Zone 8b 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 8b 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 47.252, -122.460.