Is Costco generally less crowded as evening approaches?

I'm retired. And I was lucky enough to have a job with flexible hours. So I've always gone to Costco on weekdays, mid afternoon, to avoid the biggest crowds. Never go on weekends. And learned the hard way, avoid the place altogether after the first week of December.

I was shocked to pull into my local Costco last Monday, 2:30pm, and the parking lot was at capacity. I've only seen that once before... I went Christmas week 4-5 years ago, and regretted even entering the parking lot. I immediately decided not to go inside, and it still took 25 minutes just to get out of the gridlocked parking lot. Monday wasn't quite that bad, but even the most remote spaces were filled.

So now I'm wondering, what are the least crowded times? I'm not seeking unrealistically empty, don't mind some checkout lines, etc. Just trying to avoid mobs. And wondering if, maybe it's not quite so busy around dinner time.