Sun Path: Richmond Hill, Canada

Direct answer

For Richmond Hill at 43.8711, -79.4373, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 69.6° at the June solstice, 46.1° at an equinox and 22.7° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 6122091 in administrative area 08, at 43.8711, -79.4373; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 69.6° at the June solstice, 46.1° at an equinox and 22.7° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 8.7 hours in December to 15.3 hours in June; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for Richmond Hill?

Richmond Hill is represented here at approximately 43.8711, -79.4373 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the Richmond Hill site remain authoritative.

Richmond Hill monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Richmond Hill solar-geometry fingerprint at 43.8711, -79.4373

• Richmond Hill, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 25.99°, zenith 64.01°, geometric daylight 9.248 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.051.
• Richmond Hill, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 34.90°, zenith 55.10°, geometric daylight 10.533 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.433.
• Richmond Hill, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 45.73°, zenith 44.27°, geometric daylight 11.948 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.975.
• Richmond Hill, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 57.71°, zenith 32.29°, geometric daylight 13.515 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.632.
• Richmond Hill, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 66.27°, zenith 23.73°, geometric daylight 14.752 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.440.
• Richmond Hill, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 69.58°, zenith 20.42°, geometric daylight 15.286 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.372.
• Richmond Hill, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 66.57°, zenith 23.43°, geometric daylight 14.800 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.433.
• Richmond Hill, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 57.88°, zenith 32.12°, geometric daylight 13.539 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.628.
• Richmond Hill, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 45.93°, zenith 44.07°, geometric daylight 11.974 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.968.
• Richmond Hill, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 34.37°, zenith 55.63°, geometric daylight 10.461 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.462.
• Richmond Hill, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 25.69°, zenith 64.31°, geometric daylight 9.200 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.079.
• Richmond Hill, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 22.68°, zenith 67.32°, geometric daylight 8.714 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.393.

Harth computed the Richmond Hill fingerprint for latitude 43.8711° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude -79.4373° is retained for a later civil-time conversion; this screen does not perform that conversion. See NOAA's solar calculation details. Atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions remain outside this first-pass comparison.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Vaughan, Canada
• Sun Path: Toronto, Canada
• Sun Path: Markham, Canada
• Sun Path: Etobicoke, Canada
• All solar & daylight data guidance for Canada
• Climate Design Data: Richmond Hill, Canada

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames CA dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 6122091). Regulatory starting point: Codes Canada and the applicable provincial or territorial authority. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• nrc.canada.ca

• gml.noaa.gov