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Earliest sunset of 2026 in San Jose

The earliest sunset of 2026 in San Jose is at 4:49 PM on Sunday, December 6. The clock reads 4:49 PM at sunset every day from December 1 to December 10; December 6 is when it is earliest to the second.

Sunset in San Jose around the earliest day

San Jose, 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 297:01 AM4:50 PM9 h 49 min−15 s
Nov 307:02 AM4:50 PM9 h 48 min−13 s
Dec 17:03 AM4:49 PM9 h 47 min−11 s
Dec 27:04 AM4:49 PM9 h 46 min−9 s
Dec 37:05 AM4:49 PM9 h 45 min−7 s
Dec 47:05 AM4:49 PM9 h 44 min−5 s
Dec 57:06 AM4:49 PM9 h 43 min−3 s
Dec 67:07 AM4:49 PM9 h 42 min−1 s
Dec 77:08 AM4:49 PM9 h 41 min+1 s
Dec 87:09 AM4:49 PM9 h 40 min+3 s
Dec 97:10 AM4:49 PM9 h 40 min+6 s
Dec 107:10 AM4:49 PM9 h 39 min+8 s
Dec 117:11 AM4:50 PM9 h 38 min+10 s
Dec 127:12 AM4:50 PM9 h 38 min+12 s
Dec 137:13 AM4:50 PM9 h 37 min+14 s

The earliest sunset comes before the winter solstice

The shortest day of 2026 in San Jose is December 21, with 9 h 35 min of daylight, but the earliest sunset is 15 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 6, 2027, at 7:22 AM.

By December 31 the sun sets at 4:59 PM, 10 minutes later than on December 6. The earliest sunset falls in standard time, after the clocks went back on November 1; see when it starts getting dark earlier in San Jose for the whole autumn.

How these times are calculated

Times are for San Jose (37.34° N, 121.89° 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 Jose 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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