What time is it in San Rafael, California?

San Rafael is currently on daylight saving time. The next change is Sunday, November 1, 2026, when 2:00 am becomes 1:00 am local time.

San Rafael sits at 37.98°N, 122.51°W. For sunrise and sunset there — which do depend on exactly where it is, unlike the clock — see sunrise and sunset in San Rafael.

The clock says the same thing everywhere in Pacific Daylight Time, but the sun does not. Over San Rafael it is highest at 1:01 pm today — 61 minutes after clock noon.

At 122.5°W, San Rafael sits well toward the western edge of its zone, which is why the sun stays up later here than the clock suggests. Daylight saving adds another hour on top until the clocks change.

Today runs 12 hours 2 minutes in San Rafael, and the day is getting shorter by 2 minutes a day. Across the year it swings 5 hours 17 minutes, from 14 hours 48 minutes at the June solstice down to 9 hours 31 minutes in December.

At 38.0°N that puts San Rafael between Kailua at 2 hours 22 minutes and Fairbanks at 18 hours 9 minutes.