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Earliest sunset of 2026 in San Diego

The earliest sunset of 2026 in San Diego is at 4:42 PM on Thursday, December 3. The clock reads 4:42 PM at sunset every day from November 27 to December 10; December 3 is when it is earliest to the second.

Sunset in San Diego around the earliest day

San Diego, the week before and after the earliest sunset of 2026, local clock time. “Change” is how much earlier (−) or later (+) sunset is than the day before.
DateSunriseSunsetDaylightChange
Nov 266:28 AM4:43 PM10 h 14 min−14 s
Nov 276:29 AM4:42 PM10 h 13 min−13 s
Nov 286:30 AM4:42 PM10 h 12 min−11 s
Nov 296:31 AM4:42 PM10 h 11 min−9 s
Nov 306:32 AM4:42 PM10 h 10 min−7 s
Dec 16:33 AM4:42 PM10 h 9 min−5 s
Dec 26:33 AM4:42 PM10 h 8 min−4 s
Dec 36:34 AM4:42 PM10 h 8 min−2 s
Dec 46:35 AM4:42 PM10 h 7 min0 s
Dec 56:36 AM4:42 PM10 h 6 min+2 s
Dec 66:37 AM4:42 PM10 h 5 min+4 s
Dec 76:37 AM4:42 PM10 h 5 min+6 s
Dec 86:38 AM4:42 PM10 h 4 min+7 s
Dec 96:39 AM4:42 PM10 h 3 min+9 s
Dec 106:40 AM4:42 PM10 h 3 min+11 s

The earliest sunset comes before the winter solstice

The shortest day of 2026 in San Diego is December 21, with 10 h 0 min of daylight, but the earliest sunset is 18 days before it. Solar noon, the moment the sun is highest, is not fixed at the same clock time: because the Earth’s axis is tilted and its orbit is an ellipse, it drifts later by about half a minute a day in December. So sunset starts getting later in early December while sunrise is still getting later even faster, and the days keep shrinking until the solstice. The latest sunrise of the winter does not come until January 8, 2027, at 6:51 AM.

By December 31 the sun sets at 4:52 PM, 11 minutes later than on December 3. The earliest sunset falls in standard time, after the clocks went back on November 1; see when it starts getting dark earlier in San Diego for the whole autumn.

How these times are calculated

Times are for San Diego (32.72° N, 117.16° W), calculated with the NOAA solar-position algorithm for a flat horizon, in local clock time (America/Los Angeles), including daylight saving time where it applies. They are the same numbers as on the San Diego sunset and sunrise pages and are usually within a minute of published tables. Hills and buildings can hide the sun a few minutes early.

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